Keyannah Chavez waited until the ninth inning to deliver the swing that kept UNLV’s streak alive. With two outs in the top of the ninth, Chavez drove a solo home run to deep right field, lifting the UNLV softball team to a 4-3 extra-inning win over Grand Canyon on Friday night at GCU Softball Stadium.
The Rebels improved to 28-18 overall and 15-5 in Mountain West play. They have now won eight straight.
Fettic battles through nine
Lauren Fettic gave UNLV exactly what it needed against the Mountain West leader. She went all nine innings, scattered nine hits and allowed three runs, two earned, while walking two and striking out nine.
Fettic improved to 13-7, and she did it by surviving traffic. Grand Canyon had runners on, but UNLV turned two double plays and Fettic kept the Lopes scoreless over the final five innings.
Late push forces extras
Charelle Aki gave the Rebels a 1-0 lead in the fourth with her 11th home run of the season. Grand Canyon answered in the bottom half with three runs, helped by a UNLV error, to move in front 3-1.
UNLV tied it in the sixth. Aki was hit by a pitch, Maddie Scott entered as a pinch runner and Mantha Hatzenbeller singled to left. Rachel Cook followed with an RBI single to center, scoring Scott to make it 3-2.
Later in the inning, Natalie Turner reached on a Grand Canyon error, allowing Hatzenbeller to score the tying run. From there, Fettic took over, getting a double play in the sixth and retiring Grand Canyon in order in the seventh and ninth.
Numbers that mattered
Chavez went 2-for-4 with a walk and the go-ahead homer. Hatzenbeller also went 2-for-4 and added UNLV’s only double.
Aki went 1-for-2 with a home run, a walk and a hit by pitch. Cook added the RBI single that started the sixth-inning comeback.
UNLV had seven hits and was hit by four pitches, while Grand Canyon finished with nine hits but scored only once after the fourth.
Standings watch
Friday night’s win matters even more when you look at the Mountain West table. UNLV is now tied for second at 15-5 in league play, sitting one game back of first-place Grand Canyon with five regular-season games left before the Mountain West Championships in Reno, Nevada (May 6 through May 9). The finish is as direct as it gets, because UNLV’s remaining schedule is loaded with head-to-head games against the teams sitting first and second. In other words, the Rebels do not need help from anyone else to change the standings, they can take it themselves over the final week.
Up next
UNLV continues the series at Grand Canyon on Saturday at 1 p.m. PT.
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Dice City Sports editor Mark Hebert covers the Vegas Golden Knights, Las Vegas Raiders, Athletics, and UNLV baseball and softball. He has 24 years of journalism experience, is also a senior reporter at Exhibit City News, and previously covered the Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers. Follow him on X or connect on LinkedIn.
