Game 2 of day two of the 2026 MW Softball Tournament was a rivalry matchup between third-seeded Nevada, the host of the event, and their hated in-state rivals, the UNLV Rebels, just a week after UNLV swept the Wolf Pack in Las Vegas. Nevada got their shortly-awaited revenge on their southern rivals, out-hitting the Rebels 18-9 in a 13-6 victory.
This began as a rematch of Game 1 of these teams’ regular season series, with MW Pitcher of the Year Lauren Fettic getting her third start against the Wolf
Pack in the last seven days. On the other side, Tess Bumiller was called on to start for Nevada less than a day after she was knocked out of the starting lineup by an errant throw to the head during warmups. Bumiller certainly looked a bit shaken to start, hitting each of her first two batters in the bottom of the first. She took a page out of Hailey McLean’s book for the rest of the inning, immediately getting the next three batters out to leave the first inning tied scoreless.
The Wolf Pack got on the board first, with Haylee Engelbrecht and Talia Tretton hitting back-to-back doubles in the bottom of the second. Nevada got two on with one out, but Fettic forced an inning-ending double play to stop the Pack attack. UNLV recorded their first two hits of the game in the bottom of the frame, then after the Wolf Pack recorded two outs on two pitches, the next pitch went off the bat of Bri Williams for a two-run double that put the Rebels up 2-1 at the end of the second.
Back-to-back two-out doubles in the third by Katie Wetteland and Hannah Di Genova tied the game up at 2-2. Nevada continued the two-out rally with back-to-back walks, but a fantastic catch by Keyannah Chavez in deep left field on a potential three-run hit left the bases loaded for the Pack. UNLV took the lead again in the bottom of the third, scoring on a Presley Barnes RBI single following a stolen base, then extended their lead with a Mantha Hatzenbeller solo homer that drove a disgusted Bumiller out of the game.
Nevada caught fire in the fourth, scoring five runs on a flurry of doubles and untimely misplays in the field by the Rebels. UNLV scored one off of Ainsley Berlingeri on a fielder’s choice in the bottom of the fourth, but still went from being up by two at the start of the inning to being down two at the end. Both teams got two runners on but nobody across in the fifth inning, entering the home stretch with the score still locked at 7-5.
In the top of the sixth, Nevada plated three on a bases-loaded walk and a two-run single by Rylie Haith, extending their lead to 10-5, albeit leaving the bases loaded on a rare Di Genova groundout. UNLV cut into the lead with a leadoff homer by Natalie Turner in the bottom of the sixth, but three straight outs by Berlingeri kept the Pack lead at 10-6.
Being the road team in their home park, the Wolf Pack entered the top of the seventh looking for some insurance runs. Glover and Haith each put another run on the board, then the softball equivalent of a Benny Hill sketch allowed another run across while also recording the final out of the inning of Haith at first. The 13-6 score would hold as the final, with Nevada getting their revenge on their rivals to the south.
Engelbrecht, Haith, Tretton and Matlyn Leetch each recorded three hits on the night, with Haith proving that she should be in the starting lineup, given her performance came as a pinch hitter. Berlingeri got the win, tossing 3.1 innings while allowing just three hits, two runs, and striking out four in a fantastic relief performance. Nevada has now scored 23 runs in their first 12 innings of MW Tournament play, showcasing their lethal offense on the biggest stage yet.
Nevada will face top-seeded Grand Canyon in the first game tomorrow, starting at 12:00 p.m. PST. Nevada was the lone Mountain West team to defeat GCU in a regular season series, doing so on the road in Phoenix. The winner of this game will immediately move on to the championship on Saturday, needing to only win one of two to take home the Mountain West conference championship.
