Nevada 4, Army 1
Friday, February 7, 2025 – 11 a.m.
Los Angeles, Calif. – Smith Field
 
W: Tess Bumiller (1-0)
L: Amanda Eaglin (0-1)
 
Nevada 14, Lehigh 4
Friday, February 7, 2025 – 1:30 p.m.
Los Angeles, Calif. – Smith Field
 
W: Hailey McLean (1-0)
L: Chloe Hess (0-1)
 
LOS ANGELES - Nevada Softball won both of its games Friday to start the season 2-0. The Pack's 4-1 win over Army marked Victoria Hayward's first win as the head coach of the program.
 
Nevada 4, Army 1
Redshirt freshman Ainsley Berlingeri made her collegiate debut in the season opener against Army. Berlingeri struck out the first batter she faced, one of many to come. The right-hander struck out the side in the second inning and carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning. Berlingeri ended with 11 strikeouts and gave up one hit in 5.0 innings pitched.
 
The early innings were dominated by defense with the first score of the game coming in the top of the sixth. Aaliyah Jenkins led off the sixth inning with a right-field triple. Two batters later, Saige Alfaro made a pinch-hit appearance, her first plate appearance with Nevada. Alfaro singled up the middle to drive in Jenkins.
 
The Wolf Pack looked good with two outs in the bottom of the sixth but a hard ground ball by Army made a tough play for Nevada's defense, allowing the Black Knights to reach safely on an error. The next batter, doubled to score Brown and tie the game, 1-1.
 
Nevada responded immediately with a Haley Painter home run to lead off the seventh. A Haylee Engelbrecht single followed by an Aaliyah Jenkins single and stolen base gave Nevada runners second and third with one out. Matlyn Leetch, in just her second at-bat for Nevada, singled to right field to score both Engelbrecht and Jenkins.
 
Tess Bumiller, who entered in relief for Berlingeri in the sixth, went three up, three down in the bottom of the seventh. Striking out the Black Knight's last batter. Bumiller was credited with the win, her first with the Pack.
 
Nevada 14, Lehigh 4
Game two was the opposite of game one, dominated by offense. Lehigh got a quick start, bunting twice and getting some help from Nevada miscues. An overthrow allowed a run to score and the batter to advance to second. A cleanup home run scored the runner and gave Lehigh a 3-0 lead early in the game.
 
Nevada bounced back after a quiet first inning. Jenkins doubled to lead off the inning. A wild pitch and Hannah Di Genova walk gave Lexi O'Gorman first and third to work with. O'Gorman singled to right, scoring Jenkins. Later in the inning, a Madison Clark single scored Di Genova, right before Painter doubled to score O'Gorman and Clark.
 
A leadoff double and more small ball got Lehigh a run back. A double steal caught Nevada's defense off, allowing a run to score.
 
Nevada's offense opened up in the fourth inning, scoring 10 runs in the inning. O'Gorman and Maya Larsen started the inning with singles a piece before a Bailie Clark triple scored both of them.  Despite a pitching change, Nevada's offense continued to roll, with M. Clark scoring her sister, B. Clark, on a groundout. Painter hit her second home run of the day, hitting the center field stands and giving Nevada an 8-4 lead. Maytorena followed up the home run with a triple, the first since 2022. Jenkins singled to score Maytorena and was immediately knocked in by a Di Genova line drive over the fence. To wrap up the inning, O'Gorman, Leetch, and B. Clark loaded the bases through two singles and a walk. M. Clark tripled over the center fielder, scoring all runners.
 
Hailey McLean started game two, making her Wolf Pack debut. McLean finished with 4.0 innings pitched and seven strikeouts, giving up five hits and allowed three earned runs.
 
Jess McPartland came in for relief of McLean, making her NCAA debut. McPartland had a clean inning, striking out the final batter.  
 
Nevada continues its Southern California trip with two games at Bill Barber Park in Irvine, Calif. The Wolf Pack will face California Baptist at 10:30 a.m. and No. 6 UCLA at 4 p.m.
 
Friday Notes:
*Berlingeri made her collegiate debut against Army. Berlingeri finished with 11 strikeouts.
*Saskia Raab made her collegiate debut with an at-bat in the fifth inning against Lehigh.
*Jenkins passed Sadaria McAllister for second-most stolen bases in Nevada history (54).
*M. Clark had five RBI against Lehigh, a career-high.
*Nevada's 13 strikeouts against Army is tied for the eighth most in a single game in Nevada history and the most since 2019.
*Nevada hit three triples against Lehigh, tied for the most in a single game in Nevada history: it's the fourth instance of the feat.
*Four Nevada pitchers made their Wolf Pack debuts. Berlingeri and McPartland made their NCAA debuts. All four pitchers recorded a strikeout. Bumiller and McLean both got wins.