The Nebraska softball team salvaged a doubleheader split at New Mexico State Friday, posting a 4-1 victory over the Aggies in the nightcap at the NMSU Softball Stadium.
Nebraska (3-3) fell behind 1-0 after one inning of play before scoring the game's final four runs. The victory was Rhonda Revelle's 1,100th win as Nebraska's head coach, while the Huskers handed New Mexico State (5-1) its first loss of the season.
Sarah Harness (1-0) started and earned the win, allowing one run on four hits in 4.0 innings. Emmerson Cope, making her career debut, picked up the save after scattering two hits in 3.0 scoreless innings of relief.
Offensively, Nebraska tied its season high with eight hits. Bella Bacon and Alina Felix each had two hits, including one double apiece. Felix, Sydney Gray and Mckinley Malecha all drove in a run, as did Brooke Andrews with her first home run of the season.
Emily Dix (0-1) took the loss for New Mexico State. Dix allowed three runs on five hits in 2.0 innings.
Nebraska missed a potential big inning in the top of the first, producing three hits but failing to score. Samantha Bland began the game with a single. With one out, she stole second but was thrown out at third attempting to advance after a wild throw from the catcher. Bacon then singled to right field and Emmerson Cope followed with a double, but Bacon was thrown out at home on the play.
Desirae Spearman made the missed chances hurt when she hit a one-out solo home run in the bottom of the first inning to give New Mexico State a 1-0 lead.
Nebraska tied the game in the top of the second. Brooke Andrews began the inning with a walk and scored two batters later on an RBI double to right from Felix. With the game tied 1-1, Malecha reached on an error and Caitlynn Neal was hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out. But Nebraska could not break the tie, as the Huskers left the bases full after a shallow fly out to center and a pop up to the pitcher.
The Huskers scored twice in the top of the third to take a 3-1 lead. NU got its leadoff hitter on base for the third straight inning when Bacon led off with a double down the left field line. Cope was then hit by a pitch to mark the end of the game for Dix. Jaileen Mancha came on in relief and walked Andrews to load the bases. Sydney Gray drove in Bacon with an RBI fielder’s choice to give the Huskers a 2-1 lead. With one out, Felix singled up the middle to load the bases again. Malecha then reached on an RBI fielder’s choice that scored Andrews, and New Mexico State failed to record an out on the play due to an error. Leading 3-1, Nebraska had the bases loaded with only one out but could not add to its lead.
New Mexico State threatened in the bottom of the third with runners at second and third with two outs, but Harness escaped the jam with a ground out to short.
The Aggies had the tying runners on base again in the bottom of the fourth with one out following a pair of walks. But Harness was up to the task again, retiring the next two batters to preserve the 3-1 lead.
Andrews gave Nebraska an insurance run when she hit a two-out, solo home run in the top of the seventh to make it 4-1.
Cope then retired the side in order in the bottom of the seventh to earn her first career save.
Nebraska returns to action at the Troy Cox Classic with a pair of games on Saturday against Montana and Sacramento State.
Post-Game Notes
- The win marked Rhonda Revelle's 1,100th win as Nebraska's head coach. Revelle is just the third active Division I head coach to record 1,100 wins at the coach's current school.
- Nebraska had eight hits in the game, tying its season high.
- Mckinley Malecha started at catcher, her first start of the season and the fourth start of her career. She also produced her first career RBI in the third inning.
- Alina Felix had an RBI double in the second inning, marking her first hit of the season and second career double. Felix finished 2-for-3 to produce her first career multi-hit game.
- Bella Bacon went 2-for-4 with a double. She produced her first multi-hit game as a Husker – and second of her career – while recording her second double this season and second of her career.
- Emmerson Cope made her first career appearance in the circle and earned her first career save.
- Cope and fellow freshmen Caitlin Olensky combined to throw 5.0 scoreless innings in the doubleheader.