by RENO, Nev. – Junior Kali Sargent (Washoe Tribe) put together arguably her best pitching performance of her Wolf Pack career on Sunday afternoon as the Nevada softball team took down Utah Valley by a score of 4-0. With her complete game shutout, Sargent helped the Pack improve to 22-24 on the season.
On the day, Sargent surrendered just three hits, while striking out six batters in the process. She also finished the contest retiring 12 of the final 13 Wolverines (20-27) she faced, including 11 consecutive batters. The shutout marked the second of her career in a Wolf Pack uniform and first this season.
Offensively, senior Erika Hansen led the way with a team-high two hits. Her senior counterpart Aaliyah Gibson posted a game-high two RBIs with her pair of runs that she drove in in the bottom of sixth to push the Pack’s lead to four.
After Sargent began the game with a quick one-two-three top of the first and a pair of strikeouts, Nevada’s offense got going in hurry, coming out a scoring a run in the bottom of the inning. Sophomore Sadaria McAlister led things off with a single up the middle and following a steal of second base, the Pack had a runner in scoring position with no out.
McAlister came around to score when Hansen put a ball in play that Utah Valley mishandled, resulting in her advancing on the error for Nevada’s first run of the game. With the Pack holding a one-run lead, the Wolverines threatened to respond with runs of their own in the top of the second, having loaded the bases, but Sargent pitched herself out of the jam as she recorded her third strikeout of the game to keep Utah Valley off the scoreboard.
The fourth inning saw Sargent continue her dominant performance, where she kept three of the four batters she faced off the base path. Following her third one-two-three inning of the game in the sixth, the Pack pushed its lead to four in the bottom of the inning with its three-run frame.
With a four-run cushion underneath her belt, Sargent came out firing in the top of seventh, retiring the side in order for the fourth time of the day to seal the 4-0 win for Nevada. The Pack will be back in action on Tuesday, May 8 when Nevada concludes its final game of its series with San José State at Hixson Park at 1 p.m. PT.
