Aggie softball loses to No. 5 Washington, UNLV at Boyd Gaming Classic

LAS VEGAS, Nev. - The Aggies took the field at Eller Maide Stadium for a pair of games on day one of the Boyd Gaming Classic, dropping a 14-3 (five innings) decision to No. 5 Washington and a 13-5 (six innings) loss to UNLV. Ramsay Lopez and Riley Carley combined for four Aggie homers and six RBI over the two contests.
 
GAME ONE
NM State faced off with No. 5 Washington to open the Boyd Gaming Classic from Eller Media Stadium, falling 14-3 in five innings.

Gabbie Plain (7-3) picked up the win for the Huskies, going 3.0 innings and allowing three runs on five hits with five strikeouts.

Laurali Patane (0-2) made her first start of the season for the Aggies, allowing five runs (three earned) on four hits with a pair of strikeouts.

Patane started off strong, striking out Sami Reynolds and recording a lineout to get two quick outs on the board. Kin Fielder then singled through the right side for the Huskies before stealing second and advancing home on an error to give Washington an early 1-0 lead. A lineout to centerfield would eventually conclude the top of the first.  

Ramsay Lopez got the Aggie offense going with a leadoff single through the right side. Lopez then advanced to second on a Yazzy Avila groundout. Paige Knight followed up with a single to right field, moving Lopez to third. Following a three-RBI performance against UTEP on Wednesday, Maya Martinez kept her hot streak going with an RBI single that scored Lopez, tying the game 1-1.

Washington's Madi Huskey hit a solo shot to centerfield to put the Huskies back on top, 2-1, before another run crossed the plate off a throwing error and extended their lead to 3-1. Jordin King then came in to relieve Patane and recorded a strikeout to end the top of the second.

Hailey Tanori drew a walk in the bottom of the second – turning a Ramsay Lopez homer into a two-run shot to knot the game up at 3-3. The solo blast by Lopez was her sixth of the season, and third of the week after a two-home-run performance Wednesday night in a 19-3 win over UTEP.

The Huskies showed why they are one of the top teams in the country in the third inning as they knocked in eight runs and turned a tie ball game into an 11-3 deficit for the Aggies. In the top of the fourth, Washington would add to its total with a three-run homer that put the Huskies up 14-3 before Felicia De La Torre came in and recorded a strikeout and a forced a pop out to end the top of the fourth. De La Torre closed the game in the circle for the Aggies, finishing the day with one hit allowed and one strikeout in 1.2 innings. Riley Carley also singled up the middle in the bottom of the fourth for the only hit by either team the rest of the way.
 
GAME TWO
The Aggies took the field for their second game of the day as they faced off with the UNLV Rebels, falling 13-5 in six innings.

Felicia De La Torre (1-4) got the ball to start the second game of the day, going 2.2 innings allowing four runs while recording four strikeouts.

Ramsay Lopez opened the game with a leadoff no-doubt homer to left field, putting the Aggies on top from the jump 1-0. Maya Martinez hit a single through the left side before a Paige Knight two-out single landed in front of a Rebel right fielder and advanced Martinez to third. Hannah Lindsey then popped out to shallow left field to end the top half of the inning. Back-to-back walks started the inning for the Rebels before De La Torre froze Mia Trejo and got the looking strikeout. A bases-loaded single up the middle got past the Aggie infielders and scored one run for the Rebels, tying the game 1-1. The inning would then close as De La Torre earned her second strikeout of the afternoon as an off-speed offering mixed up the UNLV batter.

Riley Carley led off the second inning by launching a solo shot to right center, giving NM State a 2-1 advantage off Carley's third homer of the year. Jayleen Burton then hit a grounder past two diving Rebels for a base hit. Once Burton got on base, she stole second and then advanced to third off a throwing error by the UNLV catcher. Ramsay Lopez drew a full-count walk to put runners on first and third with Savannah Bejarano coming in to pinch run for Lopez. Bejarano stole second before an Avila groundout and Martinez strikeout ended the top of the second. De La Torre generated a swing and miss strikeout to start the bottom of the second before catching the corner of the plate for her second strikeout of the inning, and third in a row. A pair of Rebels reached base before UNLV's Mia Trejo hit a three-run home run to centerfield, putting UNLV up 4-2 before a lineout to Burton ended the inning.

Kayla Bowen started the top of the third with a single into shallow centerfield and would eventually work her way to second thanks to a throwing error. Hannah Lindsey slapped a base hit down the left field line in the next at-bat, advancing Bowen to third. Riley Carley then came in and launched her second home run of the day as she hit a moonshot to left field to put the Aggies and Rebels in a 4-4 deadlock. Hailey Tanori hit a would-be double to the left-field gap but was called out on batter interference to end the inning. A leadoff walk ended De La Torre's afternoon, going 2.2 innings pitched with four runs on two hits and four strikeouts. Jordin King entered the game in relief, allowing a hit before and recording a flyout before a grounder up the middle turned into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.

Ramsay Lopez walked to start the fourth inning before an Avila sac bunt moved Lopez into scoring position at second. Maya Martinez came up with a single up the middle, easily scoring Lopez and regaining the lead 5-4. UNLV managed to put runners on second and third in the bottom half of the fourth but a second-looking strikeout of the afternoon by King ended the inning.

The Rebels came out swinging in the bottom of the fifth, tying the game 5-5 with an opposite field home run before, using a two-run triple and two-run home run to take a 10-5 lead. Laurali Patane came in for King, when Lopez turned a 5-3 double play to end the fifth. UNLV ended the game in the bottom of the sixth inning with a two-run homer to left field.
 
UP NEXT
The Aggies return to Eller Media Stadium Saturday for a pair of games on day two of the Boyd Gaming Classic, taking on Houston at 11:00 a.m. MT before a rematch with UNLV starting at 4 p.m. MT.  For updates and exclusive content throughout the offseason, follow the Aggies on Twitter (@NMStateSoftball), Instagram (@nmstatesoftball) and like us on Facebook (NM State Softball).