RENO, Nev. – The Nevada softball team captured the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader to split on the day with Fresno State.
Nevada dropped game one 8-5 after squandering an early lead but came back in game two to win 7-5.
Noelle Micka went 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI in the first game and followed that up with a 2-for-4 performance in game two to extend her hitting streak to a career-long 20 games. That ties the school record set last year by Brittany Puzey and it is the longest hitting streak by a WAC player this year.
Nevada is now 14-14 overall on the year and 1-2 in WAC play. Fresno State improved to 21-12 and 2-1.
The Wolf Pack will now hit the road for five games – a doubleheader Thursday at Weber State before a three-game weekend WAC series at Utah State.
The Wolf Pack got on top early in the second game, scoring twice in the second inning. Britton Murdock walked and stole second. After a groundout by Lauren Lastrapes moved Murdock to third. Sam Puzey then doubled to score Murdock and put Nevada on the board, 1-0. Megan Fincher then singled to score pinch-runner Amanda Nims and Nevada led 2-0.
Nevada added more runs in the third. Noelle Micka led off the inning with a single and Danielle Patrick followed with a home run to left to make it 4-0. Two outs, two walks and a hit-by-pitch after that, Nevada had the bases loaded and poised to break the game open. Britton Murdock scored on a wild pitch but the Pack couldn’t get any more across and the lead was 5-0.
The Bulldogs got one back in the fourth on an RBI double by Lisamarie Coronado but Nevada came right back in the bottom of the fourth.
With runners on second and third, Kelsey Starr belted a double to the gap to make the score 7-1.
Fresno State would go on to score two in the sixth and two in the seventh but Mallary Darby was able to hold on for the victory.
Darby went all seven innings, giving up five runs on 10 hits for the win. She walked one and did not record any strikeouts in improving to 9-5 on the year.
In game one, Nevada jumped out on top with two runs in the second inning. With one out, Megan Fincher singled and stole second. With two outs, Noelle Micka tripled to right center, scoring Fincher. Danielle Patrick followed with a single to give the Pack a 2-0 lead.
But Fresno State came back in the third inning to take the lead. An Andrea Ortega double scored Becca Walker, who had singled. Michelle Moses then homered to give Fresno State the 3-2 lead.
Nevada answered in the bottom of the third. With one out, Kelsey Starr doubled to left. Lauren Lastrapes then belted her first collegiate home run and Nevada re-took the lead, 4-3.
After a scoreless fourth inning, Fresno State broke things open in the fifth. The Bulldogs chased Mallary Darby with one out and Fresno State greeted Katie Holverson with four singles out of the next five batters as they took a 7-4 lead.
Nevada got one back in the fifth after Murdock doubled and moved to third on a groundout. After Lastrapes was hit by a pitch, Sam Puzey grounded out to score Murdock. But Lastrapes was stranded on second as Nevada left nine runner on for the game, including four in the final three innings.
