Box Score Feb. 24, 2017 Final Stats
Box Score (PDF) 
PHOENIX - The Nevada softball team opened up the GCU Tournament with an over-powering, 9-0, win over Rhode Island. In its night time matchup up against host-GCU, the Pack fell to the Lopes by a score of 11-3. Entering tomorrow's second day, Nevada holds a 6-4 record through its first 10 games of the season.
The day begin with Nevada wasting no time to put runs on the board against the Rams (1-6), scoring two runs in the first two innings of the game. However, it wasn't until the fourth inning when the Pack's bats exploded, tacking on seven runs courtesy of six hits.
Nevada's offensive outburst kicked off with junior Erika Hansen ripping a double to left field, who came around to score, off of an RBI triple from freshman Kenzi Goins. After junior Amanda Nicholas doubled home Goins, senior Nikki Orozco walked, which capped off a string of four straight batters to reach base.
After junior Jennifer Purcell singled to centerfield to bring in Nevada's third run of the inning, the exclamation point of the game came from freshman Mele Tausinga. With the bases loaded and one out, Tausinga launched a towering fly ball over the centerfield fence, marking the first home run of her young career.
The nine run cushion the Pack built was all that sophomore Kali Sargent needed to come out with a dominant performance in the circle. She finished the afternoon tossing four shutout innings, allowing just three hits and striking out four batters in the process to improve her record to 3-2 on the year.
In the Pack's nighttime matchup against GCU, the Lopes (13-1) jumped out to an early 5-0 in the first inning. Yet, despite being in an 8-0 hole entering the top half of the fifth, Nevada continued to fight, cutting into GCU's lead.
The Wolf Pack's first run of the game came off of single from junior Aaliyah Gibson, scoring senior Raquel Martinez, which sparked Nevada's next three batters to reach base, resulting in fours and three runs when the inning was over. Entering the bottom of the fifth, the Pack trailed the Lopes by just five runs, 8-3.
GCU responded with three runs of its own to claim the 11-3 victory. Nevada will compete in the second day of the GCU Tournament on Saturday when it takes on Portland State at 3:30 p.m. PT and Rhode Island at 6:00 p.m. PT.
