Nevada Wolf Pack softball wins finale against Fresno State

RENO — The Nevada softball team concluded its regular season on Saturday with a 10-7 victory over Fresno State in a five-inning contest due to time constraints.

The Wolf Pack (25-25, 12-12 MW) used a nine-run bottom of the first that included a grand slam to take a commanding seven-run advantage over the Bulldogs (31-23, 14-10 MW).

After finding itself in a two-run hole heading into the bottom of the first, the Wolf Pack sent 14 batters to the plate.

The offensive outpouring began with senior Aaliyah Gibson recording Nevada’s first hit with a single.

She later came around to score on senior Erika Hansen’s double in the left field gap that cut the Bulldog advantage in half. Following a one-out walk from senior Amanda Nicholas, the Pack tied the score courtesy of a first-pitch single from junior Alyssa Mendez that scored Hansen.

Nevada showed its discipline at the plate, having its next three batters draw walks and with the bases loaded, freshman Lauren Gutierrez launched a no-doubt bomb over the fence for her fourth home run of the season and first grand slam of her career. Though already up six at this point, the rally continued after a pair of walks and single up the middle from Nicholas put the Pack ahead by seven runs.

In the first inning, Nevada drew six walks, which set the tone for the team’s season-high 10 walks in the game. Fresno State did its best to cut into Nevada’s lead, having scored six unanswered runs over the next three innings, but the Pack fought through and tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the fourth courtesy of a sacrifice fly from Gutierrez that scored Mendez.

The fifth inning was scoreless and because of time constraints, the contest ended and Nevada claimed its sixth series win of the season. The series win also marks the second year in a row the Pack has taken a season series from the Bulldogs.

Nevada will now wait to see what its postseason opportunities will be as the Wolf Pack has a chance to appear in the Postseason NISC, a tournament it participated in last season, advancing to the regional final.