FORT COLLINS (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV softball team came up short in its attempt to hand Colorado State (30-6, 12-2) its first conference series loss of 2019 as the Rams took game two 7-5 Saturday in Fort Collins. The Rebels had leads of 3-0 and 5-3, but CSU's offense overcame both deficits, eventually taking the lead for good with a two-run home run in the fourth inning.

The loss drops UNLV to 27-10 and 8-5 in Mountain West play.

UNLV used three pitchers in the contest, with Charlie Masterson going 1.2 innings in the start and Jenny Bressler and Breana Burke throwing 3.1 and 1.0 innings in relief, respectively. Bressler was tagged with just her fifth loss of the season after allowing the Rams' go-ahead home run.

Justine Federe and Myranda Bueno led the way at the plate, with Federe getting the Rebels on the board first with a two-run home run in the opening frame and Bueno giving the Rebels a 5-3 lead with a two-run double in the top of the third. The two combined to go 4-for-7 with four RBI and one run scored.

THE TURNING POINT: UNLV jumped out to a 3-0 lead after a frame and half, but by the end of the second inning the Rams had tied it up at three. In the top half of the next inning, Reina Bondi singled, then Mia Trejo and Denise Armendariz drew walks to load the bases. That brought up Bueno, who scooted one past the first baseman down the right field line to score two with the double to make it 5-3. After the Rams cut the lead to one with one run in bottom half of the third, Bressler got two quick outs in the fourth, but a single was followed by a two-run home run by CSU to put them up 6-5. The Rams added an insurance run in the fifth and the Rebels couldn't rally after that.

STAT OF THE GAME: The Rams repaid the Rebels for their two-out magic in the opener Friday. After all six of UNLV's runs Friday were with two outs, all seven of the Rams' runs Saturday came with two outs.

UP NEXT: The series will be up for grabs in Sunday's rubber match, which is set for 11 a.m. PT at Ram Field.

REBEL NOTES: 
* UNLV is now 40-48 against Colorado State all time
* The 27-10 record is the third-best record through 37 games. The 1991 owns the best record at 29-8 & the 1995 squad was 28-9
* UNLV needs six wins to match last year's total of 33 with 13 games still left to play, while head coach Kristie Fox needs just six wins to reach 200 total in her head coaching career
* The loss was just the third this year when the Rebels have scored first. They were 23-2 heading into Saturday
* UNLV committed just its 25th error of the season and is now 8-6 when committing one error in a game
* Rebels still continue to outscore its opponents 201-90