Lady Tigers fall in tough game

Nevada's Tiffani Long tags out Pleasant Hill's Jessica Thomsen at second during Monday afternoon's game. The Tigers will host the El Dorado Springs Bulldogs this afternoon in a make-up game. --Ralph Pokorny/Daily Mail

The Nevada Lady Tigers softball team showed a strong performance against the Pleasant Hill Chicks Monday afternoon but fell short, losing 4-0.

The Chicks came out firing in the first inning as Brittany Clement came up with a lead-off single on the very first pitch of the game off Nevada starter Rachel Kennedy. Clement eventually came around to score the game's first run after Pleasant Hill was able to put up two more hits in the inning to make it 1-0.

Nevada was also able to get their lead-off hitter on in the home half of the frame when Pleasant Hill starter Jessica Thomsen hit Nikki O'Bryan with a pitch. O'Bryan was later caught stealing third base and Nevada came up empty in the inning, unable to record a hit.

The second inning was a much better one for Kennedy as she was able to tack on her first strikeout of the game on her way to putting the Chicks down in order on just nine pitches. Nevada threatened in their half of the inning with a one-out walk and a stolen base by Jessica Davis but were unable to put up any offense as Thomsen recorded her second strikeout of the inning and pitched her way out of the jam.

Nevada looked as though they might put the Chicks down quietly again in the top of the third when Clement's failed attempt to steal second turned the momentum over to the Lady Tigers' side. But Pleasant Hill was able to add one more run to their lead in the inning after Kennedy gave up two more hits and the Lady Tiger defense committed the first error of the game.

Nevada was able to get a couple of base runners in the bottom half of the inning thanks to two errors at third base, but were unable to get on the scoreboard as Thomsen pitched her way out of the jam without allowing a hit.

The Chicks got another run in the fourth after a lead-off walk turned into a runner in scoring position after a ball got by catcher Andi Alexander and a double by Katie Thomsen allowed the runner to score. Thomsen later stole third, but was stranded when the Lady Tigers were able to get out of the inning.

The bottom half of the fourth saw Davis record her second stolen base of the game, but the Lady Tigers were once again stopped short by a strikeout and solid defensive play that got Pleasant Hill out of the inning unscathed.

A lead-off hit in the fifth by Jessica Thomsen was quickly erased when she was caught trying to steal second and the Chicks went down quietly. The Chicks brought in Clement to pitch in the bottom half of the frame and Nevada came up empty after a one-out walk was followed by two strikeouts to end the inning.

The sixth inning got a bit rocky for Kennedy as she gave up a lead-off walk and a single -- with a stikeout in between -- to give Pleasant Hill two on with just one out. The Chicks added one more run to their lead on two hits in the inning, along with another Nevada error.

Nevada went down fairly quietly in the home half, adding just their second hit of the contest while becoming the victim of another strikeout by Clement. The seventh inning ended quickly for both sides with the help of some strong defensive play to bring the game to an end with a final score of 4-0.

"It felt good as a whole what our team did," head coach Brandi Thomsen said of her team's performance. "We definitely have some things to work on, but the attitude and aggression was there."

Thomsen was very pleased with her players and cited things like being simply unable to put together series of hits as reason for the loss. The team was very strong with two out, Thomsen said, and they are feeling very good for the rest of the week.

With the loss, the Lady Tigers' record falls to 8-9 on the year and their next contest is scheduled for this afternoon at 4:30 p.m., as they host El Dorado Springs in a make-up game.