The Nevada softball season ended last week, marking the 12th Wolf Pack team to complete its 2023-24 season. At the conclusion of the year for each Nevada sport, we will offer a final report card. Here is that report card for Wolf Pack softball.
Nevada softball
Preseason expectations: The Wolf Pack went from 17 wins in Linda Garza's first season in 2022 to 31 in her second in 2023 with even higher expectations set for 2024. Garza unexpectedly resigned as the team's head coach last August to return closer to home in Fresno, handing a strong roster to her assistant, Marina Demore, who took over as interim head coach. The Wolf Pack was picked to finish fifth out of nine teams in the preseason Mountain West poll, which seemed low given every key contributor from the season was returning, meaning Nevada had a high ceiling in 2024.
Final record: 40-17 overall, 14-8 MW (tied for second in the MW); finished third in six-team MW Tournament
Player of the year: Gabby Herrera — With Nevada having six players on the All-MW team, there are several candidates for this spot. And our MVP last season, Chelie Senini, was certainly missed during the MW Tournament while being limited with a leg injury. But we'll give this honor to Herrera, who was the MW's co-player of the year after setting a single-season Nevada record with 17 homers while hitting .392/.434/.784 with a 1.218 OPS. The Oregon transfer tied for 25th in the nation in homers, was 29th in slugging and seventh in RBIs (65). Herrera is the second conference player of the year in program history, joining Vanessa Briones, who earned the 2008 WAC honor. Herrera, Senini and Aaliyah Jenkins were all named first-team All-MW while Blake Craft, Bridgette Gilliano and Haley Painter got second-team honors.
Best win: Beat San Diego State, 7-3, on April 26 — The Wolf Pack had 13 wins over top-100 RPI teams, including 11 in conference. Nevada's best victories came April 26 and 27 when it beat San Diego State in back-to-back games. The Aztecs won the MW regular-season and tournament titles, but Nevada won the season series against them. On April 26, Nevada scored in four of its seven innings with multiple runs in three of those. Meanwhile, Blake Craft threw a complete game, limiting SDSU to six hits and three runs. A day later, Nevada scored a 5-2 win over SDSU with all five runs coming in the sixth inning with the Wolf Pack trailing 2-0. Taryn Jenkins had a two-run double before Aaliyah Jenkins' two-run homer. Carley Brown threw a complete game while allowing just two runs.
Stat to note: 40 — Nevada won 40 games for just the third time in program history. The Wolf Pack won 44 games in 2008 and 40 in 2009, making the NCAA Tournament both seasons.
Season in short: The Wolf Pack dominated its non-conference tournament schedule, going 20-6 before the start of the MW season. That also began well with Nevada opening league play 8-1. But the Wolf Pack dropped both games of a doubleheader at last-place Utah State, which turned out to be a turning point for Nevada, which went 6-7 in its final 13 league games to fall one game shy of a share for the MW regular-season title. Nevada tied for second in the MW with rival UNLV, its highest placement in the school's MW era and well above the preseason poll projection. Nevada was the No. 3 seed at the MW Tournament and beat Colorado State in a play-in game before upending UNLV. That put the Wolf Pack in a good position to potentially win the tournament, but Nevada lost to San Diego State and Boise State — both by scores of 4-1 — and was eliminated from the tournament. It was similar to the 2023 MW Tournament, which included Nevada opening the event with a win against Colorado State while losing to the Aztecs and Broncos. Despite an RPI of 47, Nevada did not get an at-large bid into an NCAA Regional.
Final grade: A-minus — This was a top-five season in program history and easily the Wolf Pack's best since moving to the MW in 2012. Nevada set a number of school records on offense, including homers (79), runs (366) and average (.335). The Wolf Pack ranked 10th nationally in average, third in doubles, 10th in homers and 11th in scoring at 6.42 runs per game. That offense was shut down at the MW Tournament with Nevada tallying just 12 runs in four games (3.0 per contest), with eight of those coming in one game. Given Nevada's loaded roster, this seemed like the season to win a MW title or get to its first Regional since 2009. Neither happened, which was disappointing. But this was still a stellar campaign. The future is more uncertain with Nevada's top-three pitchers — Craft, Brown, Tyra Clary — departing seniors while six of its nine starting positions players (Herrera, Senini, Gilliano, Taryn Jenkins, Maile Olsen, Charli Hawkins) also are out of eligibility. It might not be a complete rebuild, but Nevada is losing as much productivity as anybody in the nation.
Previous report cards
Women's soccer (full report card)
Men's and women's cross country (full report card)
Volleyball (full report card)
Football (full report card)
Women's basketball (full report card)
Men's basketball (full report card)
Women's swimming and diving (full report card)
Women's tennis (full report card)
Men's tennis (full report card)
Women's golf (full report card)
Sports columnist Chris Murray provides insight on Northern Nevada sports. Contact him at crmurray@sbgtv.com or follow him on Twitter @ByChrisMurray.
