Steve Puterski / LVN Photo
A complete team effort from the University of Nevada softball team led the Wolf Pack to a 4-2 victory over the San Diego State Aztecs at Hixson Park in Reno on Sunday.
After handing the Aztecs their first Mountain West loss, Nevada sits at 23-18 (2-4 MW). San Diego State falls 25-13 (5-1 MW). The Aztecs, though, won the series with an 8-1 win on Saturday and a 6-3 victory on Friday.
Nevada welcomes Colorado State to Hixson Park for its third MW series of the season. Game one will be Friday, with the first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m.
On Sunday, Megan Dortch pitched her 11th complete game of the season and lowered her ERA to 3.89 to win for the eighth time. She struck out three Aztecs and allowed only one earned run.
Nevada swung the bat well against reliever Rebecca Arbino, who gave up three earned runs in less than two innings pitched. Karley Hopkins came through with a big double in the sixth, when Nevada scored three times to wrestle the game away from SDSU.
With two outs, she hit her second double of the game in the left-center field gap on a 2-2 pitch, scoring Megan Fincher and Danielle Wiltz to make the score 3-2 in favor of the Pack. Hopkins was 2-for-4 with a run scored and two driven in.
Megan Sweet singled home Hopkins for an insurance run and Dortch closed the door in the seventh. Erin Jones pitched in with her team-leading 16th double, and Jasmine Jenkins and Chelsea Venable also had one hit. Venable started her sixth game of the season behind the plate and threw out the only runner that attempted to steal a base.
Hopkins and Jenkins now lead the Pack with a .371 batting average. Hopkins two RBI make her the eighth Nevada player with at least 20 RBI this season.
San Diego State’s Danielle O’Toole started the game and recorded a no decision. She went four and a third and gave up one earned run.
On Saturday, Fincher hit her team-leading ninth home run of the season to account for Nevada’s run. Other than the homer, Nevada had three hits in seven innings against O’Toole. Sara Parsons, Lauren Lastrapes and Chelsea Barilli each had one hit in the game.
On Friday, Nevada scored twice in the fourth and once in the sixth, but was unable to come back from a four-run deficit in the game. San Diego State scored once in the third and three times in the fourth before the Pack got on the board.