UNLV roundup: Softball team wins two in Houston

Janine Petmecky pitched a three-hit shutout with seven strikeouts and had a go-ahead RBI double to send UNLV to a 3-0 win over Syracuse in the Houston Invitational softball tournament Friday in Houston.

In the Rebels’ second game of the day, Justine Federe had a two-run homer and a two-run single to help rally UNLV past Texas-San Antonio 6-5.

Mia Trejo had a two-run double against the Orange (5-4) for the Rebels (10-3), who are off to their best start since opening 10-2-1 in 2008.

Against the Roadrunners (6-3), Reina Bondi went 2-for-3 with an RBI double and scored twice for UNLV.

Federe’s two-run single came in the Rebels’ three-run third, helping them tie the game at 3. Her two-run homer came in UNLV’s three-run seventh.

Kylea Nix and Bailee Baldwin homered for Texas-San Antonio, which held a 9-6 edge in hits.

BASEBALL

At Wilson Stadium, Bryson Stott went 2-for-4 with a home run, three runs, two RBIs and a stolen base to back starter Alan Strong, who struck out eight in five innings, leading the Rebels to an 8-3 victory over Columbia.

Strong allowed two runs on five hits and one walk.

Kyle Isbel, Nick Rodriguez, Max Smith and Seth Mullins had two hits apiece for UNLV (5-1), which held a 12-7 edge in hits.

Isbel had a triple and two RBIs, Rodriguez and Smith each drove in a run, and Mullins scored twice.

Jack-Thomas Wold homered for the Rebels, who led 5-2 after three innings and scored three in the sixth.

Joe Engel went 2-for-4 and scored twice for the Lions (0-1).

MEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING

At Houston, Grant Norgan won the 200-yard freestyle for the Rebels, who had 10 top-eight performances on Day 3 of the four-day Western Athletic Conference Championships.

UNLV is second in the team competition with 550 points, 65 behind Wyoming and 100 clear of third-place Wyoming in the six-team field.

Norgan’s time of 1 minute, 35.77 seconds in the 200 freestyle is the third best in program history. Freshman Mark Theall was third in 1:36.47, classmate Brad Gonzales fourth in 1:38.26 and Forrest Beesley fifth in 1:38.38.

Dylan Tarazona placed second in the 100 butterfly in 46.91 seconds, and Rob Gilchrist was seventh (48.37).

Dagen Kipling was third in the 400 individual medley in 3:52.46, a personal best that ranks sixth in program history. Ethan Klein was seventh (3:59.78).

Francois Van Wynsberge was fifth in the 100 breaststroke in 54.19 seconds, and Serginni Marten was sixth (54.56).

The 400 medley relay team of Richard Szilagyi, Van Wynsberge, Tarazona and Beesley was second in a season-best 3:11.42.

Freshman Jesse Cawley was second in platform diving with a score of 341.50.

TRACK AND FIELD

At Albuquerque, N.M., Jasmyne Graham placed fourth in the long jump for the Rebels, who advanced 11 runners to Saturday’s finals in five events at the Mountain West Indoor Championships.

Drea Austin and Kaysha Love advanced in the 60-meter run and the 200. Austin ran personal bests in both races, 7.39 seconds in the 60 and 23.71 seconds in the 200. Love’s personal-best 7.38 in the 60 tied her for fourth in program history.

Destiny Smith-Barnett made her first appearance on the track this season and ran the 60 in 7.39 seconds, giving UNLV the 3-4-5 spots in the final.

Graham ran the second-fastest 60 hurdles time of 8.35 seconds, which put her second in program history. Teammates Jaela Williams and Amari Norris qualified fifth (8.54) and sixth (8.60).

Avi’Tal Perteete was third in the 800 preliminaries in 2 minutes, 12.37 seconds. Najia Hudspeth had the fastest (54.51 seconds) and sister Nylia the eighth-fastest time in the 400 preliminaries.

In the team standings, UNLV is tied for seventh in the 11-team field.

Colorado State leads with 45 points, followed by Air Force (26), New Mexico (25.50), Boise State (25), Fresno State (24.33), UNR (21.50), UNLV (17), San Jose State (17), Wyoming (16), Utah State (8.67) and San Diego State (8).

WOMEN’S TENNIS

At Palo Alto, Calif., No. 74-ranked Aiwen Zhu improved to 19-1 at No. 1 singles with a 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory over No. 19 Michaela Gordon, the highlight for the Rebels (7-4) in their 6-1 loss to No. 36 Stanford (4-2).

Zhu and En-Pei Huang, the No. 59-ranked doubles team, lost 6-4 to top-ranked Emily Arbuthnott and Gordon as UNLV’s four-match win streak was snapped.

Huang lost 7-5, 6-2 to No. 31 Arbuthnott at No. 3 singles, Samantha Li lost 4-6, 6-0, 1-0 (10-4) to Emma Higuchi at No. 5 singles, and Juliet Zhang lost 6-3, 7-6 to Kimberly Yee at No. 6 singles.