UNLV roundup: Bressler strikes out 11 in softball victory

Samantha Diaz hit a go-ahead RBI single with two outs in the sixth inning to back Jenny Bressler, who pitched a complete game, leading UNLV past New Mexico 2-1 in a Mountain West softball game Thursday at Eller Media Stadium.

Justine Federe, who scored on Diaz’s hit, went 2-for-3 and was the lone player on either team with multiple hits. Bressler (22-5) allowed one run on three hits and three walks and struck out 11 as the Rebels (34-14, 12-9) dealt the Lobos (12-39, 3-19) their 10th straight loss.

UNLV opened the scoring in the fifth, when Myranda Bueno singled and eventually scored on a throwing error by shortstop Cameryn O’Grady.

New Mexico tied it in the sixth on Taylor Jones’ leadoff home run, the lone extra-base hit for either team.

Lobos starter Kiana Spence (6-17) went the distance, allowing one earned run on seven hits and no walks. She struck out one.

TRACK AND FIELD

At Clovis, Calif., senior Stella Clemens was the runner-up in the heptathlon in the Mountain West Outdoor Championships with 5,311 points, 324 points behind Fresno State senior Jestena Mattson and two ahead of San Diego State sophomore Asia Smith.

Clemens, who also was second in the seven-discipline event at the 2017 league meet, began the day in fourth place but fell to fifth after a sixth-place showing the long jump (18 feet, 5 inches). She climbed to third after a second-place effort in the javelin (129 feet, 1 inch).

Clemens then moved up to second when she placed fifth in the 800-meter run (2 minutes, 25.30 seconds), which was nearly 13 seconds faster than Smith (2:38.28), who placed eighth.

ACADEMICS

Senior baseball pitcher Donavon McCrystal and senior softball catcher Kiley Harrison, both criminal justice majors, were named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 team. McCrystal has a 3.95 grade-point average; Harrison’s is 3.77.

McCrystal has made a Mountain West-leading 25 pitching appearances this season, posting a 3.76 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 26 1/3 innings. He is UNLV baseball’s first Academic All-District honoree since Erick Fedde in 2014.

Harrison, who played her first two years of high school softball at Coronado and her final two at Palo Verde, entered Thursday batting a career-best .333 with three doubles, 11 RBIs and eight runs in 36 games this season.

She is the first UNLV softball player to gain Academic All-District honors since Bridget Byrne in 2004.

The Rebels’ district includes four-year institutions from Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington, as well as Canada.