Box score
 
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Fort Lewis (2-3 overall) clicked in all phases of its game today in a 6-5 win over No. 24 Dixie State (4-2) in the final game of the fourth annual Desert Stinger, a 28-team, three-day tournament hosted by Montana State-Billings.
 
“That was a really well-played game,” said third-year FLC head coach Kira Zeiter. “We are excited to leave Las Vegas on such a high note. We had great pitching in the circle, timely hitting and solid defense. This team has a lot of fight in them and is exciting to coach.”
 
Fort Lewis took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the third by manufacturing runs and capitalizing on Dixie State miscues. Destinee DeHererra was hit by a pitch to lead off and advanced to second when Chelsea Rodriguez singled through the left side. A fielding error by Red Storm shortstop Rochelle Jenkins allowed Myndee Thompson to reach and loaded the bases. Tehenia Telliano — a freshman catcher from Reno, Nev., who was the lone Skyhawk playing in her home state at the Desert Stinger — walked in the first run. Designated player Laura Ashe then hit a sacrifice fly to right to score Rodriguez. Thompson scored the third run on a passed ball.
 
Dixie State nearly scored in the top of the fourth when Kylee Bufton doubled to right center, but Anna Cue was gunned down by second baseman Kaylynn Harmon on a bang-bang, 9-4-2 putout at home plate.
 
Jenkins made up for her third inning error by hitting a solo home run to lead off the Dixie State fifth and put the Red Storm on the board.
 
But the Skyhawks got the run back in the bottom of the frame when Mariah Stuart doubled in Thompson to extend FLC's lead to 4-1.
 
The final two innings were nailbiters. Dixie State's Siera Phillips belted a two-run homer to center to chase Skyhawk starter Katie Watkins, who took a no-decision despite pitching five quality innings and allowing just three runs and five hits. Reliever Kassie Haubert was immediately roughed up by Cue, who tied the game on her fifth homer of the year.
 
Fort Lewis was opportunistic again in the bottom of the sixth, as it scratched out two more runs to reclaim the lead at 6-4. With one out, DeHerrera singled through the left side. After Rodriguez walked, Harmon grounded out to second, advancing the runners to second and third to put them into scoring position. Thompson then hit a grounder to Jenkins, who committed her second error of the game and allowed DeHerrera and Rodriguez to score.
 
The Red Storm cut the lead in half in the top of the seventh on a two-out, RBI single by Phillips, but couldn't equalize as Haubert (1-3) got the powerful Cue to pop out to center to end the rally and the game.
 
Haubert, who worked the final two innings to get her first win of the season, became the third pitcher in Fort Lewis history to notch 30 career victories. She joins Cassidy Maine (33 from 2004-07) and Tara Berg (31 from 2001-04) as the school's only 30-game winners.
 
Dixie State's Mattie Snow (2-1) took the loss, allowing just six hits and six runs, only two of which were earned. Her team's three errors and one passed ball proved to be costly, though.
 
Thompson had two of the hits against Snow and scored a pair of runs. DeHerrera and Rodriguez each scored twice.
 
Cue and Phillips each had two hits for the Red Storm, which was limited to eight hits and five runs by the Skyhawk pitching tandem of Watkins and Haubert.

The five games in Sin City marked FLC's only nonconference outings of the 2013 campaign. Fort Lewis takes next weekend off before opening Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play at UC-Colorado Springs (5-3-1) on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 23-24. As is standard for four-game RMAC series, games are slated for noon and 2 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Sunday at Mountain Lion Field.