HOUSTON, Texas - The Nevada softball team dropped two on the first day of the Houston Classic. The Pack (1-3) fell to Nicholls 3-0 and host team Houston, 4-0.
Nevada combined for 10 runs on the day with seven against Nicholls and three against Houston.
Kenzi Goins,
Sadaria McAlister and
Sierra Mello all had multi-hit days.
Ashley Salausa, Mello and Goins all knocked a double in the morning contest.
Nicholls 3, Nevada 0
Kali Sargent got the start in the first game, pitching 2 1/3 innings before being relieved by
Julia Jensen. Jensen, in her first appearance of the season went 3 2/3 innings with no runs on one hit and tallied four strikeouts.
McAlister started things off with a lead-off single that was followed by a single to the opposite side of the field by Mello. The threat went without a run after a foul ball was popped up to third base. Nicholls entered the box and plated two runs on two singles and a fielding error by the Pack; the Colonels took a 2-0 lead early.
Nevada created another opportunity in the third but a tag at the plate on Gutierrez ended the threat. The Colonels again responded in the bottom of the inning with another run to put them on top, 3-0. Both teams had runners in scoring position but the pitchers battled it out and depended on their defense to get out of the innings.
Houston 4, Nevada 0
Kendall Fritz got the nod and pitched the six innings for the Pack, only allowing four runs, three earned, with 12 strikeouts on 29 batters faced. The freshman ties with fellow pitcher, Jensen, at seventh for most strikeouts in a single game.
The first two scores of the game came from solo home runs in the bottom of the first and the bottom of the third inning. Nevada held on defensively through the fourth and fifth inning including retiring the side in the fifth. In the sixth, two doubles and a single followed by a fielding error allowed Houston to secure the win, 4-0.
The Pack returns to Cougar Stadium tomorrow, Feb. 16 to take on ULM at 9:30 a.m. PT, before a rematch with Nicholls at 2:00 p.m. PT.
