The UTEP Miners’ softball team began their 2017 campaign in the Kajikawa Classic tournament in Tempe, Arizona, on Thursday, Feb. 9. The team left Arizona without a win, but put up a fight against some of the nation’s better teams.
The Miners faced off against the Stanford Cardinal from the Pac-12 in their season opener. Junior catcher Kaitlyn Ryder scored senior third baseman Kiki Pepi in the third inning to tie the score at 1-1, but the pitching of freshman Allie Johnson and senior Kaitlin Fifield was not enough to contain the powerful Cardinal, who tallied 10 runs in total.