Las Vegas, Nev.—In the 12th inning, Alyssa Avila came off the bench to drive in the winning run and score another to help the San José State softball team win 5-3 at UNLV Friday night in a Mountain West game.
Avila, who pinch hit for starting catcher Grace Garvey in the 12th inning, singled to center field to score eventual winning pitcher Jenessa Ullegue from second base. Ullegue had led the inning off with a single up the middle and advanced to second on a Kaelin Amrein sacrifice bunt. After Alyssa Graham popped up to short, Avila came to the plate and had a 1-2 count when she connected.
Advancing to second on the throw home for a potential play at the plate, Avila then scored on the next play as Makayla Englestad sent a 2-1 pitch back up the middle to give the Spartans a 5-3 advantage.
San José State got the scoring started in the top of the first inning, ending a 14-inning drought of no runs scored. With one out, Arianna Miranda singled to left and Cassidy Clark doubled down the right field line to put runners at second and third. Madison Aurin then hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Miranda from third for a 1-0 lead.
UNLV took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second inning, and San José State responded in the top of the fourth inning with a run to tie the game at 2-2. With one out, Ullegue doubled to left center field, advanced to third on an Amrein ground out and scored on an error by the Rebels shortstop.
The Spartans took a 3-2 lead in the top of the sixth inning. Aurin drew a walk, and Mackenzie Drake ran for her. Drake advanced to second on an Ullegue single to left. Drake then scored on an Amrein double to right center that put runners on second and third. But the Spartans could not push another run across as the team grounded and flied out to end the threat.
UNLV tied the game in the bottom of the seventh on a sacrifice fly, and the two teams headed to extra innings. The two teams combined to leave 11 runners on base over the next four innings before SJSU scored in the 12th.
Spartan pitcher Caroline Bowman got her 18 start of the season and pitched 3.1 innings, allowing six hits, two runs, one earned, in 19 batters faced. Chrys Hildebrand then pitched 2.2 innings, allowing two hits, one unearned run and three strikeouts in relief. Ullegue pitched the final six innings of the game to improve her record to 13-4 on the season. She allowed three hits and struck out four of the 22 batters she faced.
The teams play the final game of the series Saturday at 12 p.m.
