No. 1 Nevada vs No. 4 Boise State/No. 5 Utah State
May 8, 2025 – 3 p.m.
San Diego, Calif. – SDSU Softball Stadium
 
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SAN DIEGO – Nevada Softball is set to open the Mountain West Championships tomorrow at 3 p.m. playing the winner of No. 4 Boise State and No. 5 Utah State. The Pack earned a bye into the double elimination portion of the Mountain West Championships, securing at least two games in San Diego. Nevada is the No. 1 seed after winning the regular season championship, the program's first championship since 2009.
 
The Wolf Pack (40-12, 18-4) will play in game three of the Mountain West Championships against the winner of Wednesday's game one. Boise State (33-20, 11-11 MW) and Utah State (26-25, 11-11 MW) will play each other for the fourth time in a row after the Broncos swept the season series in Boise last week. The winner will get to face the top-seeded Wolf Pack for the fourth time this season, a series that each team is currently losing 2-1.
 
Nevada is led by its Mountain West Player of the Year, Aaliyah Jenkins, who led the Mountain West in 10 different offensive categories. Jenkins broke multiple Mountain West senior records with one of the most dominant seasons in conference history. Jenkins was joined by Madison Clark, Hailey McLean, Haylee Engelbrecht, and Tess Bumiller on the all-Mountain West first and second teams. Clark was second in the conference in batting average and in the top five in four other categories. Engelbrecht, McLean, and Bumiller were in the top 10 of a handful of their respective hitting and pitching categories.
 
The Pack is coached by the Mountain West Coach of the Year, Victoria Hayward. Hayward joined her former boss, Stacey Nuveman Deniz, as the only first-year head coaches in conference history to finish the regular season at the top of the standings. Hayward's Pack is the quickest to 40 wins in Wolf Pack history, doing so in 52 games. The Pack are also on pace to finish in the top five seasons in program history in every major offensive statistic.
 
Outside of the all-conference honors, the Pack has seen players step into new roles all over the field. Hannah Di Genova and Maya Larsen have become everyday starters for the Pack in their junior seasons. Tatum Maytorena, Saige Alfaro, and Matlyn Leetch have all seen consistent starting time for Nevada this season, roles each of them had been out of for the previous year. Haley Painter is back in form, hitting .393 in her last 10 games after a 17-game slump. Painter's 15 home runs are tied for the fourth most in a Pack season, ranking just behind Jenkins's 16 this year, Painter's 16 from last season, and Gabby Herrera's program record of 17 set last season.
 
Looking at the field of teams at the Mountain West Championships, Clark and Jenkins have been dangerous in their 14 games against the five opponents. Clark is 23-for-44 (.523) with a triple and three walks, while Jenkins is slugging .978 with five homers, two triples, and three doubles to go with her .489 average against San Diego State, Fresno State, Boise State, Utah State, and San Jose State. In the circle, Hailey McLean owns the best ERA against the field with 3.22 ERA against the five opponents. Tess Bumiller is just behind McLean with a 3.25 ERA and an impressive 4-0 record in her six appearances.
 
Scouting the Pack's potential opponents, No. 4 Boise State was the Pack's first conference opponent, where Nevada beat the Broncos in two of three at Dona Larsen Park. The Broncos boast the Mountain West Freshman of the Year Makenzie Butt who hit .338 in conference play with eight homers, the best mark in the conference behind Jenkins. The Boise State lineup also featured the ever-dangerous Sophia Knight, who hit .444 in conference play and is just a touch below .500 on the overall season; Knight's 100 hits are the most in NCAA DI Softball. For the Pack, Jenkins had a two-homer series against the Broncos, hitting .583 in the three games. Saige Alfaro had her breakout series for the Pack, registering five hits in nine at bats and three walks in Boise. Hailey McLean pitched a complete game shutout in game two of the series.
 
No. 5 Utah State was the highest-scoring series of the season for the Pack. Nevada took the first two games with an 8-7 comeback win and a 17-14 slugfest victory on Friday. The Aggies came back in the series finale with a 14-4 run-rule victory, scoring 13 runs in an inning. Utah State was predicted to finish out of the conference tournament spots at the beginning of the season, but has had a strong campaign with wins over Purdue, Baylor, and San Diego State. The Aggies are led by Grace Matej and Kya Pratt in conference play. Matej owns a .406 batting average with eight homers and six doubles. Pratt has hit six homers and six doubles, second on the team of qualified batters. Tatum Silva had the highest conference batting average of any non-Nevada player, batting .491 in Mountain West games. Jenkins hit .778 against the Aggies with three extra base hits of her seven. Lexi O'Gorman shined and earned back a starting spot after her walk-off single against Utah State. O'Gorman tallied 10 RBI with a .714 average against the Aggies. O'Gorman was named to the NCAA Lineup of the Week and named a Softball America Star of the Week following her week against the Aggies.
 
Looking deeper into the tournament, the hosts and No. 2 seed San Diego State (33-16, 16-6 MW) have the most impressive resume of any Mountain West team with wins over Alabama, Missouri, Virginia, and Arizona, as well as taking Oklahoma to extra innings in the first game of the season. The Aztecs feature a star pitching staff with a 3.24 ERA in conference play, led by Cece Cellura. Cellura finished atop the conference in ERA with a 1.77 against conference opponents. Nevada won its series over San Diego State with a 1-0 McLean shutout to start the series. A 5-1 win sealed the Pack series win, but the Aztecs got their own 1-0 win on Saturday with an eighth-inning win. Clark led the Pack's series with a .571 average against the Aztecs. Jenkins hit .444 with a 1.111 slugging percentage in the series.
 
The Aztecs received the other bye at the Mountain West Championships and will face either No. 3 Fresno State or No. 6 San Jose State. The Bulldogs (34-18, 15-7 MW) were swept by Nevada in a two-game series, one of the Pack's four sweeps. Fresno State is led by Mountain West Pitcher of the Year Serayah Neiss and her 1.97 conference ERA and 10-0 record against conference opponents. The Pack run-ruled the Bulldogs 12-0 in the first game of the series, followed by a 3-1 win on Sunday. Clark's best series of the year was at Fresno State, hitting seven of eight against the Bulldogs, including a four-for-four, four run game on Saturday. Engelbrecht also shined at Margie Wright, hitting three-for-five with a double against the Bulldogs.
 
The No. 6 Spartans (22-27, 9-13 MW) were the Pack's surprise loss of the conference season. The Spartans turned around their conference season with their series-opening win over the Wolf Pack, securing their spot in the Mountain West Championship in the weeks following Nevada. Mia Reynolds pitched a gem against the Pack, shutting out Nevada 4-0. The Pack came back in the series, winning 3-1 and 2-0 to finish out the series. The series against San Jose State was the only calm series of the season for Nevada batters in which no hitter hit over .500 for the series. Bumiller threw a complete game shutout in the Pack's Sunday win in San Jose.
 
The winner of the Mountain West Championships will earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals next week. The NCAA selection show will be at 4 p.m. on Sunday on ESPN2.