April 11, 2015
Final Stats
UTEP 3, FIU 2 
UTEP 11, FIU 10 (8)
2015 Season Stats
EL PASO, Texas - The UTEP softball team hit three home runs, displayed solid pitching, while getting help from a few freshman during a two-game sweep over FIU on Saturday afternoon at the Helen of Troy Softball Complex.
The Miners (12-29, 7-7 Conference USA) defeated the Panthers (26-19, 7-10), 3-2, in the first game, and won a wild game two, 11-10 in eight innings. The series finale will be played on Sunday at 10 a.m.
UTEP 3, FIU 2
Kawehokalani Netane accounted for all of UTEP's runs with a two-run home run and a sac-fly to center.
FIU scored the game's first run during the first inning on a fielding miscue, taking an early 1-0 lead.
In the third, UTEP tied the game on Netane's sac-fly hit to deep center field, scoring Jade Rodriguez, who singled to right with one out.
In the fifth, Netane put the Miners up 3-1 on her eighth long ball of the season. She connected on a 0-1 pitch, sending the bright yellow ball over the left field fence.
The Panthers got within a run due to another error during the sixth, but Katlin Fifield kept the opposing batters in check in seventh. The FIU hitters went three up and three down, while Fifield forced two groundouts and a fly out to end the contest.
Fifield impressed with her 11th complete game of the season, striking out four batters, walking none, allowing only four hits and zero earned runs.
"It was a great game," UTEP head coach Tobin Echo-Hawk said. "And a great pitching effort by Kaitlin (Fifield). Our hitters came in clutch when they needed to and gave her some runs for a bit of a cushion. (Fifield) did what she needed to do; that's probably one of the best games I've seen her pitch. She had been working really hard, so you can see that her confidence has been building. She's got this presence on the mound that we've been lacking."
Netane went 1-for-2, with three RBI and a run scored. Tahla Wade, Courtney Clayton, Ashley Eldridge, Kaitlin Ryder and Rodriguez each recorded a hit during the first contest. Rodriguez and Wade also added a run apiece.
UTEP 11, FIU 10 (8)
Four UTEP freshmen - Clayton, Hope Moreno, Taylor Sargent and Linda Garcia - contributed in a big way during the wild victory. And despite five team errors, the Miners overcame a late Panthers rally to seal sweep in extra frames.
"We didn't make it easy on ourselves," Echo-Hawk said. "We made a ton of mistakes, but the good thing is coming back, holding on to it and getting the win. I think that shows how resilient our kids our. We talk about not necessarily what happens to you, but it's how you respond. They did a great job of coming back and still believing that we could get the win."
Garcia connected on a pair of long balls - the first of her collegiate career, Clayton chipped in with three hits and a pair of runs, Moreno had a key RBI and Sargent's single up the middle scored Morgan Rasmason for the walk-off triumph.
The Miners and Panthers exchanged runs during the first three innings. FIU took the early 1-0 lead in the first, as Ashley Leon scored on a UTEP error. Pepi gave her squad a 2-1 lead on a two-run double to left field, scoring Clayton and Netane during the home half.
Leon and Stephanie Texeria each recorded an RBI in the second, taking a 3-2 lead. Eldridge's two-run double, a line drive hit to right field, plated Clayton and Sargent, as the Miners took a 4-3 lead.
Marisa McGregor tied the game in third, as another error allowed the runner to cross home plate.
Garcia broke the tie in the home half. The freshman blasted her first collegiate jack, a solo shot over center field.
The Miners scored five runs during the fourth frame to take a commanding 10-4 lead. All five runs were scored with two outs. Netane scored on a Pepi single to left, while Moreno plated Eldridge with a single to right.
Garcia came up big again, as she blasted a three-run long ball that hit the scoreboard, giving her squad the big lead.
But the Panthers used a five-run fifth of their own to get within a run, highlighted by a Gabby Spallone two-run single to right. Ashley Belans and Dominique Grossman each tallied an RBI during the rally.
Erika Harrawood, who made the game-two start, didn't get any support from her defense. Harrawood had a 1-2-3 fourth inning, but fielding miscues extended the fifth frame.
Fifield closed out the fifth, and after allowing a leadoff double in the sixth, retired the next three batters. But Fifield allowed the game-tying run to score in the seventh on an Aleima Lopez single through the left side.
With game knotted up at 10-10, the Miners went three up and three down during the seventh, but Fifield answered with her own 1-2-3 eighth frame.
In the home half of the eighth, Eldridge led off with a walk, but Pepi hit into a fielder's choice. Rasmason was inserted as a pinch runner for Pepi at first. Moreno singled on a line drive past the pitcher that set up Garcia. But she lined out to short for the second out. But Sargent, who also was struggling at the plate, recently, came up with a single up the middle, taking a wild bounce past the shortstop, giving Rasmason plenty of time to cross the dish for the game-winner.
Clayton went 3-for-5, Netane went 2-for-4 with a pair of runs, Eldridge tallied two RBI, Pepi recorded three RBI on two hits, and Moreno went 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored.
Garcia, the hero of the night, finished 2-for-5 with a pair of runs and four RBI. She established career highs in runs scored and RBI.
"Two of our bottom-half hitters - (Garcia) hit two home runs and then Sarge (Sargent) had been struggling and she got the game winning hit," Echo-Hawk said. "They were unlikely heroes, but at the end of the day, anything can happen."
Harrawood and Fifield combined for six Ks and walked four. Harrawood tallied four strikeouts - a career high. Fifield (8-12) earned the victory, while improving her home record to 7-1 in 2015.
