Nevada 7, California Baptist 3
Friday, March 14 – 4:30 p.m.
Stanford, Calif. – Stanford Stadium
 
W: Hailey McLean (9-2)
L: Annika Hollingsworth (6-5)
 
STANFORD, Calif. – Nevada Softball won its DeMarini Invitational opener against California Baptist, 7-3. The long ball led the Pack to the victory, scoring five runs off home runs.
 
Madison Clark led off for the Pack with a walk, stealing second and third to set up a Haley Painter RBI grounder to put Nevada up 1-0.
 
Haylee Engelbrecht pulled the Pack out of a jam in the bottom of the first. With the bases loaded and one out, California Baptist lined out to Engelbrecht at short. Engelbrecht turned the double play, tagging the Lancer runner out before she could return to her base.
 
The defense came up big again in the second inning facing a runner at third with one out. Attempting to bunt the runner home, Aaliyah Jenkins kept the runner at third and got the out at first. Tess Bumiller struck out the following batter to get out of the inning.
 
Nevada began to pull away in the third inning. Saige Alfaro started the inning with a base hit, followed by a single off the pitcher by Matlyn Leetch. Clark bunted both runners into scoring position, allowing Jenkins to drive in Alfaro on a sacrifice fly. Painter cleaned up the inning with a home run to right center field, scoring Leetch. The homer was Painter's 11^th of the season, keeping her in the top 10 nationally in home runs.
 
California Baptist got two runs back in the bottom half of the inning. Two singles started the inning, eventually driven in by a two-out two-RBI single. Another RBI single in the fourth inning edged the Lancers closer, pulling within one of Nevada.
 
The fifth inning didn't produce any runs for Nevada but was a big part of two great performances for the Pack. Alfaro led off the inning with a walk, one of three times on-base for Alfaro. Alfaro finished the day two-for-two with a walk and two stolen bases. Later in the inning, Clark singled, her second time on base in the game. Clark ended the game one-for-two with a walk, run, sacrifice hit, and three stolen bases. The game was Clark's fourth career game with three or more stolen bases.
 
Another big scoring inning came in the sixth as Hannah Di Genova walked to get things started. Haylee Engelbrecht hit her fourth home run of the season to give Nevada a 6-3 lead. After a pitching change, Maya Larsen went back-to-back hitting a pinch-hit home run to give Nevada its seventh run. It's the first time the Pack has hit back-to-back home runs since April 3, 2024, at Utah State. The Pack hit back-to-back home runs three times last season.
 
Hailey McLean finished her ninth win of the season with a one-two-three inning. Her ninth victory of the year matches her two-season total at Utah State. In four innings of relief, McLean only allowed two hits and a run while striking out six. Bumiller pitched three innings in her start, giving up six hits and two runs.
 
Nevada returns to Stanford Stadium tomorrow for its only doubleheader of the DeMarini Classic. The Pack play California Baptist again at 12 p.m. followed by a game against #20 Stanford scheduled for 2:30 p.m.