Box Score March 9, 2012
Final Stats
RENO, Nev. - Karley Hopkins collected four hits and Lauren Lastrapes drove in four as the Nevada softball team split a pair of games at its own Wolf Pack Classic at Hixson Park on Friday.
Nevada beat San Diego 6-5 in game one before falling in a heartbreaker to Wisconsin in the second game, an 11-9 decision in nine innings.
Wisconsin and San Diego will square off at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday and then Nevada will rematch against the Badgers at 12:45 p.m. and the Wolf Pack will then play San Diego at 3 p.m.
Mallary Darby got the win in game one for Nevada as she pitched into the seventh inning, giving up five runs (three earned) with five strikeouts and no walks. She took the loss in relief in game two on the day and is now 5-7 on the year.
San Diego struck first as the Toreros scored a run in the top of the first with a two-out single by Lauren Tomey. But Nevada answered in the bottom of the frame.
Karley Hopkins led off with a single and with one out, Lauren Lastrapes double to the gap in right center to tie the game. With two outs, Ashley Butera doubled to the gap to plate Lastrapes and give Nevada a 2-1 lead. After a passed ball to advance Butera to third and a walk to Sara Parsons, Megan Fincher singled to score Butera and put the Pack on top 3-1.
The Toreros got one back in the top of the second and the teams traded zeroes on the scoreboard until the bottom of the fifth. Sam Puzey singled with two outs and then Butera crushed her sixth home run of the year to extend Nevada's lead to 5-2.
After USD got those two runs back in the top of the sixth to make it 5-4, Nevada answered in the bottom of the sixth inning. Megan Fincher doubled and eventually scored on a ground ball off the bat of Hopkins.
The Toreros threatened in the seventh as they scored once and put the tying and go ahead runners on board with two outs. Karlyn Jones came on in relief of Darby and induced a comebacker from the first batter to earn the first save of her Nevada career.
The Nevada-Wisconsin game was a back-and-forth affair. Hopkins went 3-for-5 with three runs and an RBI and Lastrapes was 2-for-4 with a run and three driven in. Nevada's first four hitters combined to collect eight hits and drive in six runs.
Nevada came back from an early 3-1 deficit to take a 4-3 lead after three innings. But the Badgers answered with three in the fourth and one in the fifth to go up 7-4.
The Wolf Pack plated three in the bottom of the sixth to tie things up and had the bases loaded with just one out. But Nevada left them full, part of 13 runners left on base in the game.
After a scoreless seventh, each team scored twice in the eighth with the international tie-breaker in effect. Wisconsin scored twice in the ninth but Nevada was unable to answer.
In the first game of the day, Wisconsin beat San Diego 6-3. Cassandra Darrah went the distance and struck out three for the win. Whitney Massey went 2-for 4 with two RBI and Molly Spencer had three hits for the Badgers. Taylor Hensley went 2-for-4 with two RBI for the Toreros.
