RENO — The Spanish Springs Cougars put up nine runs in the first inning and cruised to a 15-0 road victory over Hug in High Desert League prep softball action Thursday afternoon.

Stevie Trevino singled and stole second and third and scored on a Karley Hopkins single to start the SSHS scoring in the top of the first. Karlyn Jones followed with a triple to score Hopkins. A Sydney Darby double brought Jones plateward and a double by Julianna Waller scored Darby to make it 4-0.

The Cougars offense wasn’t done. Lacy Irwin reached safely after a Hug error that also allowed Waller to cross the plate. Bella Rovens followed with a single, bringing Irwin around the bases. SSHS leadoff hitter Ashley Decker got her second at bat of the rally and proceeded to circle the sacks on an inside-the-park home run. Trevino reached again after an error and she scored the final run of the inning thanks to a run-scoring triple by Hopkins.

“It was good to come out and get that big quick lead,” Spanish Springs coach Jeff Davidson said. “You have to play the opponent put in front of you. This week in practice we’ve turned the pitching machine down to pretty slow and focused on hitting the ball down. We did that today. We hit a lot of line drives and hard bouncing ground balls.”

Spanish Springs junior right-hander Danica Arterburn retired Hug hitters in order through the first three innings. She wound up scattering three hits in a 15-strikeout, no-walk performance. The game was shortened to five innings due to the 10-run mercy rule.

Hug did load the bases against Arterburn in the bottom of the fourth, but she then proceeded to strike out the next three Hawks in order to keep her shutout intact.

“It was her first outing of the season,” Davidson said. “She got a little lax later in the game, but she still threw it well. She needed to bear down in that situation (with the bases loaded and no outs in the fourth) and she did. Sometimes in a lopsided game you can lose focus, which she did a little bit. But she battled back and got it done.”

Spanish Springs tacked on a trio of runs in both the second and third innings. Arterburn highlighted the second inning with a two-run triple. In the third, Jones and Arterburn both had run-scoring singles while Darby roped an RBI double.

Hopkins paced Spanish Springs (6-1, 4-0 HDL) at the plate, rapping out a trio of hits in the 15-hit Cougars attack. Six other Spanish Springs hitters finished with two hits.

The two teams resume their three-game HDL series Saturday. Spanish Springs will host Hug in a doubleheader that starts at 10 a.m.