The second game of day two of the 2026 MW Softball Tournament was delayed due to the length of the previous game between Nevada and GCU. The teams that each of those teams defeated in Round 2: UNLV and New Mexico, respectively, began playing after them in the first elimination game of the loser’s bracket. In an stellar defensive outing, the Lobos shut out the Rebels all game for a 5-0 final, earning the right to rematch the top-seeded Lopes in the loser’s bracket final.
Yanina Sherwood got the nod
to start for UNLV in place of the overworked Lauren Fettic, immediately giving up a solo home run to her second batter (Gabrielle Briones) to put the Lobos up 1-0 in the first. UNLV got on via a Lobo error, but three straight outs, including two strikeouts by Caitlin Benningfield kept the Rebels away from any offensive momentum. The Lobos kept the homer party going in the top of the second, with Melanie Macias striking one that went exactly 220 feet to dead center, bouncing off of the top of the wall and leaving the yard to go up 2-0.
Despite having even more wear on her arm than anyone else in the tournament, Benningfield continued to mow down the Rebels in the bottom of the second, with a quick three-and-out and two more strikeouts. Sherwood allowed another runner to get on via an error in the third, then was pulled in favor of Fettic, who promptly turned an inning-ending double play. Three straight groundouts served by Benningfield ended the inning in a flash. After a three-up, three-down inning from Fettic, UNLV came back up for the fourth. Benningfield allowed one on with a four-pitch walk to Diamond Sefe, but got the next three batters out to end the inning.
New Mexico got one on via another UNLV error, but a long review of a Hayden Luderer hit-by-pitch stopped the pace of the game in its tracks. After a walk and a sac bunt to move both runners into scoring position, Bri Williams added another run with an RBI single. Fettic stranded both runners after that, leading back to Benningfield, who had her first long inning to think about the no-hitter she had going into the fifth. Benningfield lost her potential accomplishment on a double by Presley Barnes, but stranded pinch runner Brooklyn Heil at third to preserve the shutout.
Back-to-back UNLV errors; their third and fourth of the game, allowed the Lobos to get two on in the top of the sixth. Luderer came back up and sent a ball down the right-field line into no-man’s land, clearing the bases with a two-run triple to go up 5-0. The Rebels got another runner on third in the bottom of the sixth after their second hit of the game, but the Lobos’ defense continued to stifle any concepts of a UNLV offense. Fettic recorded two straight strikeouts to start the seventh, turning it to her impotent offense to try and overcome the five-run deficit to save their season.
A leadoff double by Barnes was a good start in that endeavor, but a 6-3-5 double play put two outs on the board just as quickly as the double had happened. Benningfield, with her 243rd pitch of the tournament, forced a game-winning groundout, finishing off the Rebels with a complete-game shutout.
Benningfield allowed just three hits and one walk against four strikeouts, forcing the Rebels into a whopping 28 groundouts. Briones was the only Lobo to get on base twice, with Luderer’s triple leading the team with two RBIs. This was a complete defensive masterclass from start to finish (outside of the game-opening error, of course), and what a win it is for this Lobo softball program.
New Mexico will next take on the GCU Lopes in the loser’s bracket final, starting about 15 minutes from the posting of this article. For New Mexico, their season will end with a 31-22 record, which will surely leave them disappointed, though they should not be. This team was projected by many to end up near the bottom of the Mountain West Conference, yet made it into the double-elimination portion of the MW Tournament. They earned some legitimacy this year, which will be invaluable heading into the new Mountain West.
