The Mustangs suffered two losses at the Desert Stinger Classic held Friday afternoon in Las Vegas, Nevada. WNMU first dropped a contest to Augustana, 5-4, and then lost another close one to Lewis, 8-7.

WNMU got on the board first versus Augustana. By the middle of the third, the Mustangs were up, 3-0. The Augies came close to tying the game in the bottom of the third with two runs of their own.

WNMU looked as if they may pull out an upset against the nationally-ranked team, but then the fifth inning came along. Two WNMU errors along with three Augie hits brought three runs across the plate. The Mustangs lost the lead, 5-3.

The purple and gold tried to rally with an Alisha Wyckoff (Lakeside, CA/El Capitan High School) run in the top of the seventh, but it wasn't enough as Brittney Batten (Benson, AZ, Benson High School) grounded out, leaving three players on base. 

Ashley Gonzales (Queen Creek, AZ, Queen Creek High School, Scottsdale Community College) posted three hits and two RBIs.

Pitcher Bri Robles (Mesa, AZ, Mesa High School, Phoenix College) was marked for the loss.

In the Lewis-WNMU match-up, Ricki Gentry (Lakeside, CA, Christian High School) got things going in the top of the third with a single through the left side. In the contest, Gentry was a perfect 3 for 3. Davina Flores (Tucson, AZ, Catalina High School, Central Arizona College) and Batten then followed with a single to allow Kaitlynn Barnes (Phoenix, AZ, Deer Valley High School) to produce the fourth straight one-baser to score Gentry. The Mustangs got two more runs that inning to jump ahead, 3-0.

The Flyers came close to knotting things up in the fourth with two runs of their own, but pitcher Emily Huhta (Albuquerque, NM, Manzano High School, Lamar Community College) had quick hands with a groundout.

WNMU went ahead 6-2 in the fifth with two homers by Barnes and Ashly Eichenberger (Scottsdale, AZ, Horizon High School, Central Arizona College), and then doomsday set in. WNMU allowed two runs in the bottom of the fifth and then another four in the sixth.

Like the first game of the day, WNMU tried to even even the score in the final inning as Sarah Byrne (Glendale, AZ, Cactus High School, New Mexico State University) drove the ball over the outfield fence, but a grounder and followed by a strikeout ended the game.

Arriel Smith (Oakhurst, CA, Yosemite High School), who received Huhta in the top of the sixth, recorded the loss. Neither Huhta nor Smith could record a strikeout in the game.

Click here for complete Augustana statistics.

Click here for complete Lewis statistics.