Miami Sweeps First Day of UNLV Tournament

Friday, February 15

Las Vegas, Nev.

12:00 p.m. ET

Miami University

Utah Valley

2/15/2019 7:16:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Miami 5, UVU 3 (PDF)Miami 1, UNLV 0 (PDF)

The RedHawks beat Utah Valley and the host team on Friday.

LAS VEGAS – The Miami University softball team (4-3) swept the first day of the UNLV Tournament on Friday. In the first game, the RedHawks beat Utah Valley by a 5-3 margin. Miami ended the day with a 1-0 shutout against the host team, UNLV.

Miami 5, Utah Valley 3

Courtney Vierstra pitched the complete game in the circle for the RedHawks. Vierstra struck out 12 batters while only walking two and giving up three runs on six hits.

Haeley Tran was hit by a pitch to lead off the ball game and advanced to third on sacrifices from Morgan Lott and Johniann Wahl. Jenny Vasquez was walked. Tran scored on a wild pitch to give Miami a 1-0 lead after one inning as Vierstra kept Utah Valley off the board in the bottom of one. Vierstra struck out two batters in the first.

Adriana Barlow and Mackenzie Moore each reached base on error in the second inning. Moore stole second to put runners on second and third base with one out. Lizzie Bollinger brought Barlow home with a sacrifice fly. After Utah Valley had a lead-off hit, Vierstra struck out three-straight batters to end the second inning with a 2-0 Miami lead.

Wahl got the RedHawks' first hit of the game and Vasquez walked again in the third inning but neither could score. UVU jumped ahead 3-2 with a three-run home run despite Vierstra earning all three outs of the inning with strikeouts.

The score remained 3-2 until the fifth inning. Lott hit a lead-off single, advanced to second on the next play and then stole third. Vasquez hit a sacrifice fly to score Lott and tie the game at three. Kara Leckinger singled up the middle and Lily Wilmot cleared the bases with a two-run home run to give Miami a 5-3 lead. Vierstra faced only three batters in the bottom of the fifth, earning her 10^th strikeout of the game.

Wilmot led the Miami offense with two RBI and two hits, including a home run and a double. Leckinger and Wahl also had two hits apiece. Vasquez and Bollinger each had an RBI.

Miami 1, UNLV 0

Brianna Pratt pitched the complete game in the circle, earning her first solo shutout and only giving up two hits to hand UNLV its first loss of the season. Pratt totaled five strikeouts on the day and did not give up a hit until the bottom of the sixth inning.

Miami had at least one hit in each of the first six innings while Pratt held UNLV hitless through five. A lead-off home run in the top of the sixth inning from Vasquez would be the only run by either team in the game.

Tran, Lott and Wahl each had two hits while Vasquez claimed the lone RBI.

UP AHEAD

Miami continues play at the UNLV Tournament on Saturday with a doubleheader. The RedHawks take on UC Davis at 4:30 p.m. and conclude the day with a matchup against Seattle at 6:30 p.m.