HOUSTON – Despite leading 4-3 through six innings, the UTSA Softball team (6-3) fell to UNLV on Friday, dropping a 6-5 decision to the Rebels on the opening day of the Houston Hilton Plaza.
The Roadrunners out-hit UNLV, 9-6, in the setback, guided by sophomore Celeste Loughman, who accounted for two of UTSA's hits. Adding strength to the UTSA lineup were junior Bailee Baldwinn and sophomore Kylea Nix, who both put up home runs against the Rebels.
Freshman Madison Nelson paced the Roadrunners in the circle, collecting her first loss of the season. The rookie fired a complete game with 7.0 innings pitched, seeing one strikeout and relinquishing two walks.
UTSA wasted no time getting on the board, putting up one run in the bottom of the first. With bases loaded, Hailey Garza was hit-by-a-pitch to be put on first and push Loughman home.
The Roadrunners added two more runs in the bottom of the second as Erica Sanchez led off with a single to left field and Baldwin cashed in the runs with a home run to right field.
After staying scoreless through the first two innings, UNLV tied the game with three runs off a three hits in the top of the third.
UTSA regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth with a home run to left center from Nix.
The Roadrunners maintained their 4-3 advantage through the sixth frame, but three hits from the Rebels challenged UTSA in the seventh.
UNLV opened the top of the seventh with a single to center field, with the runner stealing second in the next at-bat. With one runner on, UNLV's Reina Bondi put up an RBI single to right field, knotting the score at four. The Rebels followed with a home run from Jaclyn Candelas to plate two more runs before the Roadrunners collected three outs.
Trailing 6-4, UTSA had one more chance to respond. With one out, Rylee Rodriguez got on with a walk and advanced to third off a double from Ashlynn Walls. A line out to third base would stall the Roadrunner momentum, but a single from Victoria Villarreal drove in Rodriguez from third. However, running from second Walls was tagged out at home, ending the game. Overall, UTSA put up two hits and one run in the final frame to fall to UNLV, 6-5.
The Roadrunners return to the field in a double header against Yale and Syracuse on Saturday, Feb. 24. UTSA hits off the day with a 9 a.m. contest against Yale and concludes the day with an 11:30 a.m. matchup against Syracuse.