Nevada Media Release4/21
Mallary Darby fanned seven and Megan Fincher went 2-for-2 as the Nevada softball team upset No. 14 Hawai`i 4-0 on Saturday at Hixson Park.
The win gave Nevada (17-30, 7-8 WAC) a doubleheader split as Hawaii (37-5, 11-3 WAC) took a 6-2 victory in the first game. The win was the second of the year for the Wolf Pack over a ranked opponent as Nevada run-ruled then-No. 8 Stanford in February.
Darby (8-14) was brilliant in the circle as the scattered six hits and did walk a batter in earning the complete-game shutout. Hawaii ace Stephanie Ricketts took the loss and fell to 23-3 on the year.
Fincher also scored a run and drove in another and Sara Parsons scored two runs as Nevada made the most of its four hits in the game.
Nevada got all the offense it needed in the second as Parsons led off with a double – her WAC-leading 16th of the year. Megan Fincher then singled to left, scoring Parsons and giving Darby and the Pack a 1-0 lead.
Darby deftly worked around trouble all game as Hawaii had a base hit in every inning and Darby also hit a batter. In the third, Hawaii puts two on with two out but Darby got Jessica Iwata, one of the top hitters in the WAC, to foul out to get out of the jam.
In the fourth, Alex Aguirre singled to lead off the frame but the next batter, Leisha Li`ili`I flew out to right and Fincher gunned Aguirre down try to get back to first for the double play.
In the bottom of the inning, Nevada gave Darby some breathing room. Parson walked and Fincher singled to right, moving Parsons to third. That set up a wild play with Sam Puzey at the plate. Puzey hit a slow roller up the first-base line where Makani Duhaylonsod-Kaleimamahu fielded it and try to tag Puzey. The ball then flew out of Duhaylonsod-Kaleimamahu's glove, where it was caught by the pitcher, Stephanie Ricketts. Ricketts then fired to home but Parsons slid in safely. The ball went to the backstop, allowing Fincher to go safely into third, with Puzay safe at first on the error charged to Duhaylonsod-Kaleimamahu.
After Emily Seidel walked to load the bases, another run scored on a passed ball to give Nevada a 3-0 lead. Chelsea Venable fouled out before Caylin Campbell lifted a sacrifice fly to right to plate pinch-runner Kortnee Wiley and give Nevada a 4-0 lead.
In the seventh, Darby finally got her first 1-2-3 inning to close out the shutout.
In game one, Nevada had chances early, including a first-and-third with one out situation in the second inning. But Kaia Parnaby and Hawaii worked out of that and the game was scoreless until the fourth, when the Rainbow Wahine scored twice on a couple of hits and two wild pitches by starter Bailey Brewer.
Nevada made it a 2-1 game in the bottom of the fourth. Parsons reached on an error and then Fincher singled to put runners on the corners. Parsons scored on a groundout by Puzey. Seidel then singled to put runners on the corners again but Venable and Campbell struck out to end the threat.
After Hawaii pushed the lead to 3-1 with a run in the fifth, Nevada cut it back to a one-run game in the bottom of the inning. Chelsea Barilli drilled a shot to left for her first career home run to make it a 3-2 game.
But Hawaii pushed three across in the top of the seventh and Nevada was unable to score again.
The Wolf Pack will hit the road for the final road swing of the regular season. The Pack will play a doubleheader Wednesday against Jackson State before a three-game WAC set at Louisiana Tech next weekend.
