April 28, 2015
Final Stats
UTEP 2, NM State 5 
UTEP 1, NM State 2
2015 Season Stats
EL PASO, Texas - The UTEP softball team lost both contests to NM State on Tuesday night at the Helen of Troy Softball Complex.
The Aggies (42-13) defeated the Miners (14-36), 5-2, in game one, and 2-1 in the second contest. UTEP tallied five hits in each game.
"Their (NM State) hitters are great and it was good for our pitchers to face their hitters tonight. It's very similar to North Texas' hitters," UTEP head coach Tobin Echo-Hawk said. "North Texas is a power hitting team just like NM State."
The Miners may now set their sights on North Texas on May 2 and 3. UTEP needs to win two games in Denton to advance to the Conference USA Tournament in Miami, Fla. on May 7-9. UTEP is half a game up on North Texas in the eighth spot of the overall standings. The top eight team advance to the postseason.
UTEP 2, NM State 5
The Miners took a 2-1 lead in the third when Courtney Clayton crossed home plate on an Ashley Eldridge sac fly to center.
But the Aggies answered with a three-run fourth, as Kelsey Dodd hit her 11th home run of the season, a three-run blast over center field for a 4-2 lead.
Linda Garcia singled in Eldridge in the second for UTEP's first run.
UTEP 1, NM State 2
Danielle Pearson gave the Miners a solid outing during the one-run loss. The junior righty pitched all seven innings and struck out five Aggies (two looking).
"D.P. (Danielle Pearson) did a nice job again," Echo-Hawk said. "It's nice for her to come back-to-back from this weekend to today to have good outings. Especially going into this weekend for us."
Pearson got out of two bases loaded situations the first two innings. She forced a Lacey Rother groundout to second to end the first frame, and struck out Fiana Finau looking to end the second.
Down 2-0, the Miners got within a run when Kiki Pepi singled down the left line, plating Clayton in the sixth inning.
In the seventh with two outs, pinch hitter Kaitlin Ryder walked, following a Taylor Sargent strikeout swinging to end the contest.
Clayton went 2-for-3 with a run scored. Tahla Wade, Pepi and Hope Moreno each added a hit.
UTEP also turned its 21st double play of the season, tying the single-season record with the 2007 squad. The Miners turned three all day.
