The Wolf Pack softball team traveled to Santa Clara, California for the Silicon Valley Classic tournament, where they finished with a record of 5-1, bringing their season record to 8-3.
The Pack kicked off the tournament with a game against the Santa Clara Broncos, the hosts of the tournament, on Feb. 15. Cairah Curran, Santa Clara second baseman, was the first to score when she stole home in the first inning.
However, Nevada was able to score five runs in the third. Maile Olsen, Nevada shortstop, began Nevada’s scoring streak after advancing to third on a single from Chelie Senini, Nevada center fielder, then scoring on a throwing error. Haley Painter, Nevada third baseman, hit a home run later on, bringing in two more runs for the Wolf Pack. The last two runs for the Wolf Pack that inning were scored unearned after a double and triple from Nevada’s Gabby Herrera, right fielder, and Aaliyah Jenkins, utility, respectively.
The third inning also saw a home run from Morgan Salmon, Santa Clara, third baseman, which brought in three more runs for SCU, bringing the score after the third inning to 5-4 in favor of Nevada.
Nevada scored seven more runs in the fourth and fifth, highlighted by Painter hitting her second home run of the game in the fourth. Santa Clara was only able to score one more run in the fifth after a single from Morgan Salmon, and the game ended with a score of 12-5.
The Wolf Pack’s second game, on Friday, Feb. 16, saw a match up with the Portland State Vikings. Nevada scored two runs in the third inning and four in the sixth, with one home run from Painter, her third in the tournament, in the fifth inning. Portland was only able to score one run in the fourth, when Alison Harris, Portland catcher, hit a single, allowing Logan Riggenbac, Portland outfielder, to score.
Blake Craft, Nevada starting pitcher, pitched the entirety of the game, obtaining ten strikeouts and only allowing three hits. The final score of the Wolf Pack’s second game was 7-1, marking Nevada’s second straight win.
Nevada’s next two games were played against the Fordham Rams on Friday and Saturday. Their first game on the 16th against the Rams began with a home run in the first inning from Sydney Wells, Fordham catcher, which gave the Rams their only run of the game. The Pack went on to score six runs, one in the second, two in the third and one each in the fifth and sixth innings.
Carley Brown, Nevada pitcher, only allowed Fordham to get five hits throughout the game, while the Pack had ten hits on Holly Beeman, Fordham pitcher. Nevada’s first win against Fordham ended 6-1, giving the Pack a tournament record of 3-0 going into the third day of the tournament.
The Wolf Pack faced off against Fordham for the second time on Saturday. Nevada scored four runs right away at the top of the first inning, beginning with a three RBI home run from Taryn Jenkins, Nevada first baseman. The Rams’ designated player, Bailey Enoch, also had one home run in the first inning, and one RBI from Sydney Wells, Fordham catcher. Painter hit her fourth home run of the tournament in the second inning, while Taryn Jenkins hit her second in the third. The score was 11-6 following the third inning.
Taryn Irimata, Nevada pitcher, and Blake Craft, allowed Fordham to get 10 hits in the game, of which only seven scored. Nevada had 17 hits throughout the game, and 13 RBIs, six of which were from Taryn Jenkins. The Pack’s final game against Fordham finished with a score of 13-7, bringing Nevada’s tournament record to 4-0.
Nevada’s final game on the 17th saw another matchup with Portland State. Nevada had three RBIs in the first and second innings, while Portland scored two unearned RBIs in the fourth. Tyra Clary, Nevada pitcher, only allowed three hits from Portland throughout the game. The final score was 3-2 in favor of Nevada.
The Wolf Pack’s final game of the tournament was played on Sunday morning against Seattle University. Nevada was the first to score in the second inning with an unearned run from Aaliyah Jenkins, who was playing catcher in this game, and again in the third with an RBI from Gabby Herrera, Nevada right fielder. Mike Morris, Seattle shortstop, also hit one RBI in the third inning, bringing the score to 2-1.
The Pack scored one more time in the fifth, when Taryn Jenkins hit her third home run of the tournament. Nevada was unable to score again throughout the rest of the game, but held the score until the sixth inning, when Seattle tacked on five RBIs, bringing the final score to 3-6 and giving Nevada their first loss of the tournament.
Nevada left Santa Clara with a final tournament record of 5-1, which brings their season record to 8-3. The program now will prepare to go to Stockton, California, where the Wolf Pack will compete in the Pacific Tournament starting on Feb. 23.
Lily Walker can be reached via email derekraridon@nevada.unr.edu or via Twitter @TheBigCountry14
