April 22, 2014
Game 1: SDSU 9, UNLV 8 (8 inn.) html | pdf | video replay
Game 2: UNLV 12, SDSU 9 html | pdf | video replay
LAS VEGAS - The San Diego State softball team split a doubleheader at UNLV Tuesday afternoon in Las Vegas. The Aztecs (32-19, 9-5 Mountain West) won the opener, 9-8, in eight innings before dropping the nightcap by a 12-9 score.
In the opener, freshman Jaylene Ignacio (Oceanside/El Camino HS) tied a school single-game record with six RBIs as SDSU defeated UNLV, 9-8, in eight innings.
San Diego State had got out to an 8-4 lead in the top of the fifth inning when a single by senior Dominique Dinner (Monterey, Calif.) scored Ignacio.
The Rebels, however, tied it up with a run in the sixth and three more in the seventh, forcing extra innings.
Junior Kayla Jordan (San Diego/Bonita Vista HS) led off the eighth with a homer and freshman right-hander Erica Romero (Corona, Calif.) retired three straight batters after giving up a leadoff single to secure the opener for the Aztecs.
Ignacio became the fourth SDSU player to record six RBIs in a game and the first since then freshman Lorena Bauer (San Diego/Steele Canyon HS) did so at Colorado State on April 9, 2011. Ignacio was 3-for-4 with a three-run home run in the third, a two-run double in the fifth and an RBI single in the first. She also scored two runs.
Dinner added three hits, including a double, with an RBI and a run scored, while Jordan (two RBIs, run) and senior Katie Mathis (Grass Valley, Calif.) (double) added two hits apiece. Senior Patrice Jackson (Kansas City, Mo.), meanwhile, had a single, two walks and a run.
Romero (6-4) picked up the win after allowing just one hit over 1 1/3 innings of relief. She struck out two. Sophomore Danielle O'Toole (Upland, Calif.), who earlier today was named the MW Pitcher of the Week, got the start and yielded eight runs on 12 hits, two walks and a hit batter over 6 2/3 innings, while striking out two.
In the nightcap, San Diego State tied a program record with five home runs in the game, but allowed 16 hits and committed three errors in a 12-9 loss.
Jackson tied a program single-game record with two homers (fifth time of her career) and now has 15 on the season. The other home runs in the game came from senior Hayley Miles (Antelope, Calif.) (her fifth), freshman Sydnee Cable (Huntington Beach, Calif.) (first) and Ignacio (third). The Aztecs lost for just the third time this year in 19 games (16-3) when homering at least once in the game.
Miles was 3-for-3 with a homer, two doubles, an RBI, two runs and a walk to pace SDSU. Jackson had the two home runs, four RBIs, three runs and a walk. Cable (2-for-3, two RBIs, run), Dinner (2-for-2, RBI, two walks) and sophomore Leia Ruiz (Chino, Calif.) (2-for-3) each added two hits apiece.
Freshman Andi Smith (Orangeville, Utah) took the loss after giving up four runs on five hits over 1 2/3 innings of relief. She struck out three and is now 3-4 on the season. Romero started and yielded eight runs (seven earned) on 10 hits, a walk and a hit batter over 3 1/3 innings, while striking out three. O'Toole pitched a scoreless eighth inning, allowing one hit with a strikeout.
San Diego State combined for 18 runs, 27 hits and seven homers over the doubleheader split.
The Aztecs and Rebels wrap up their mid-week series at noon PT Wednesday at Eller Media Stadium.
Game 1: San Diego State 9, UNLV 8 (8 innings)
San Diego State 103 130 01 -- 9 14 2
UNLV 202 001 30 -- 8 13 1
O'Toole, Romero (7) and Orlando; Ettinger, Oliveto (5), Petrolia (8) and Haslinger
W - Romero, 6-4; L - Petrolia, 1-5
HR: San Diego State, Ignacio (2), Jordan (2); UNLV, Monreal (12)
Game 2: UNLV 12, San Diego State 9
San Diego State (32-13, 9-5 MW) 401 040 0 -- 9 13 3
UNLV (20-25, 10-7 MW) 130 422 x -- 12 16 0
Romero, Smith (4) and Connors; Cooper and Haslinger
W - Oliveto, 10-13; L - Smith, 3-4
HR: San Diego State, Jackson 2 (14, 15), Miles (5), Cable (1), Ignacio (3); UNLV, Haslinger (14)