ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – UTEP softball (7-9) battled through a full day of action at the UNM Invitational, coming up short in a pair of contests Saturday. The Miners fell to Houston Christian, 7-5, before dropping a 7-2 decision to Tarleton State.

Overall Recap

Despite the results, UTEP's offense continued to produce, as the Miners combined for 17 hits on the day and hit .304 as a team. Ten different players recorded at least one hit, with five posting multi-hit performances. Camrynn Guthrie paced the lineup, batting .571 (4-for-7) with two doubles and two RBIs, while Halle Hogan hit .667 (2-for-3) against Tarleton State.

Overall, seven Miners recorded extra-base hits, and five different players drove in runs. Lavas was the only Miner to score multiple runs (two). Defensively, UTEP committed its lone errors of the day, while pitchers Tatyana Vega and Serenity Jacoway were each tagged with a loss in the circle.

Game 1 Houston Christian 7, UTEP 5

UTEP struck quickly in the opening frame, plating two runs on RBI doubles from Kenna Carranza and Aaliyah Betancourt to take a 2-0 lead.

Houston Christian answered immediately with a two-run bottom of the first, then the teams traded runs over the next two innings. Guthrie's RBI double in the third briefly gave the Miners a 3-2 advantage.

The Huskies seized control in the middle innings, scoring twice in the third, adding a solo home run in the fourth, and pushing across two more runs in the sixth to extend the lead to 7-3.

UTEP mounted a late rally in the seventh. Guthrie delivered her second RBI double of the game, and Betancourt added a sacrifice fly to bring the Miners within two. The comeback attempt stalled there, however, as Houston Christian held on for the 7-5 final.

Guthrie led the way offensively, going 3-for-4 with two RBIs, while Betancourt also drove in two runs. Lavas drew two walks, and the Miners outhit the Huskies, 9-8.

Game 2 Tarleton State 7, UTEP 2

After three scoreless innings, Tarleton State broke through with a solo home run in the fourth to take a 1-0 lead.

UTEP answered in the fifth when Burchard delivered a ground-rule RBI double to tie the game at 1-1.

The Texans responded with a decisive six-run bottom half of the inning, highlighted by a grand slam, and added another solo home run later in the frame to extend the advantage to 7-1.

The Miners pushed across one more run in the sixth on an RBI double by Hogan, but could not close the gap. Tarleton State finished with a 10-8 edge in hits.

On Deck

UTEP wraps up play at the UNM Invitational on Sunday, March 1, with a rematch against Tarleton State at 9 a.m. MT. The game will be streamed on the Mountain West Network.

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