SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV softball team split day one of the UC Santa Barbara Tournament hosted by the Gauchos on Friday, Feb. 28 at Campus Diamond. The Rebels fell 9-3 against Saint Mary’s in game one, but bounced back in game two and defeated Creighton 7-4.
UNLV (10-6) and Saint Mary’s (8-8) went back and forth exchanging the lead, but a four-run fifth inning by the Gaels put them on top. SMC then added three more in the seventh. In game two, the Rebels fell behind 2-0 in the top of the second inning against the Bluejays (7-4), but scored in the next three of four innings to capture the win.
Ariana Martinez led the Scarlet & Gray at the plate hitting a combined .500 (4-for-8) which included a homer and three RBI. Her three RBI tallied today gives her 175 career RBI, which marked a new program record. Amelia Weber collected the win for the Rebels against Creighton and moved to 4-2 on the season.
GAME 1: UNLV 3, Saint Mary’s 9
With one out in the bottom of the first, the Rebels were hit by a pitch and drew back-to-back walks to load the bases. Sofia Morales then drew the third consecutive walk, which brought in a run to give UNLV a 1-0 lead. The second inning was scoreless and Saint Mary’s went ahead in the top of the third inning on a two-run home run, 2-1. The Rebels then answered back with two runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth to take back the lead, 3-2, on a Maddie Scott double and Ariana Martinez double. In the top of the fifth, the Gaels took advantage of an error and scored two runs and made it 4-3. Saint Mary’s then followed up with a two-run homer to increase the lead 6-4. After a scoreless sixth, the Gaels tallied three more runs on three hits to make it 9-4. In the Rebels’ last at-bats, UNLV had runners on with two outs, but were retired with a fly out to left.
GAME 2: UNLV 7, Creighton 4
The first inning was scoreless on both sides and in the top of the second inning, Creighton scored two runs on a double to take a 2-0 lead. The Rebels cut the deficit to one, 2-1, in the bottom of the second, scoring on an infield single by Bri Hamilton. In the top of the third, the Bluejays scored on a single up the middle making it 3-1. The Rebels scored two runs on a fielder’s choice and error to tie the game 3-all in the bottom half of the third. With runners in scoring position, Jesse Farrell and Amelia Weber were heads up on the base path and Weber scored on a wild pitch to give the Scarlet & Gray a 4-3 lead. Creighton then tied the game in the top of the fourth with a home run to right center. In the bottom of the fifth, the Rebels had runners on the corners and a sac fly to center by Farrell brought in a run to put UNLV ahead 5-4. In the bottom of the sixth, Maddie Scott led off with a single to right center. With two outs, Ariana Martinez lifted one out to right field extending the Rebels lead to 7-4. In the top half of the final frame, Creighton had a runner on with one out, but Weber sat down the next batter and got a ground ball to second to retire the Bluejays and hold onto the win.
OTHER NOTES
- Ariana Martinez was 3-for-4 against the Gaels and had one RBI. Against Creighton, Martinez was 1-for-4 including a two-run RBI.
- Charelle Aki was 1-for-2 with two walks against Saint Mary’s. She drew two more walks against Creighton.
- Sofia Morales and Maddie Scott were both 1-for-3 with a RBI in game one against Saint Mary’s.
- Scott was also 1-for-1 against the Bluejays.
- Amelia Weber collected the win against Creighton going all seven innings, did not allow a walk, struck out nine and allowed six hits.
- Through two games, the Rebels had three players bat .500. Martinez was 4-for-8 through two games with a homer and three RBI. Scott was 2-for-4 including a double and scored two runs. Destinee Noury was 1-for-2 with a walk and two runs scored.
UP NEXT: The Scarlet & Gray continue the UC Santa Barbara tournament on Saturday, March 1 at 11:45 a.m. against Creighton. Following the conclusion of that game, the Rebels will take on the host Gauchos at 2:15 p.m. on ESPN+.
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