April 6, 1999

LAS VEGAS - The Rebels suffered five losses on their last road trip to California and will look to rebound in conference action this weekend at Colorado State. UNLV lost two games at Pacific, 6-0 and 3-1, before dropping all three games at #3 Fresno State by the scores of 10-1, 2-0 and 8-0. The series between UNLV and Colorado State is even at 7-7 as both teams took two games last season.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE:

April  9     at Colorado State    2:00pmApril 10     at Colorado State    1:00pm  (DH)

RECAP: UNLV dropped both games of a doubleheader in non-conference action Wednesday against the University of the Pacific. In game one, Pacific jumped up on the Rebels early with a three-run homer by catcher Erica Reynolds. The Tigers took a 4-0 advantage in the second inning when Rebel pitcher Charelle Ainslie walked in Erin Halonen. Geney Orris relieved Ainslie and UOP promptly added two more runs off a single by Reynolds to go down 6-0. Orris was able to shut down the Pacific offense for the remainder of the game but the Rebels could not get anything going against Tiger pitcher Brandee McArthur as she pitched the three-hit shut out.

After Pacific scored a run in the first inning to take the lead in game two, the Rebels' Raven Coberg tied it up with a solo home run in the second, her sixth of the season. Pacific broke the tie in the bottom of the fourth when the Tigers loaded the bases with one out and a sac fly by Angele Alves scored Reynolds. UNLV managed to escape the inning with just the 2-1 deficit. A wild pitch by UNLV's Nicole Truax scored Natalie Farmer in the sixth inning and UNLV failed to score in its half of the seventh as Pacific prevailed by the 3-1 final.

Fresno State swept the Rebels in the three-game conference series Friday and Saturday at Bulldog Diamond. In game one, the Bulldogs jumped to an early lead on the Rebels when Angela Cervantez singled to score Vanessa Czarnecki in the first inning. However it was the second inning that proved to be the downfall of the Rebels as Fresno State started the inning with four consecutive hits and a walk off pitcher Geney Orris. The Bulldogs loaded the bases three different times as they went through the batting order and managed eight runs on seven hits. Two of the Bulldog runs were walked in by Rebel pitchers and one run scored off a wild pitch. UNLV got on the scoreboard in the third inning when the Rebels loaded the bases with no outs, but only managed one run, which was walked in by Amanda Scott. Fresno State's final run came in the bottom of the third as the Bulldogs' went on to win by the 10-1 score.

Fighting through rain delays and freezing wind game two remained scoreless through four full innings as Truax pitched a no-hitter through three and one-third. Fresno State's first basehit was by pitcher Kristen Hunter in the fourth. The Bulldogs' broke the scoreless tie in the fifth inning when Jaime Maxey scored on a Rebel error and one batter later Scott drove in a run to give the Bulldogs the 2-0 advantage. That proved to be the only scoring in the game as Truax gave up no earned runs on just three hits.

The third game of the series started much as the first had as UNLV gave up five runs in the second inning. Orris walked three straight batters to start the inning then a fielder's choice by Jennifer Slaney drove in the first Bulldog run. Another fielder's choice and a Rebel error scored two more before a two-RBI triple by Cervantez gave the Bulldogs' the 5-0 lead. Fresno added a run in the third while Parker pitched a perfect game through five innings before an error on the Bulldog short stop gave UNLV its first baserunner. Despite this Parker still got the no-hitter, UNLV's first no-hitter against the team since 1991, and Fresno State scored two in the sixth to win by the eight-run mercy rule.

GOODPASTER NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Shortstop Racheal Goodpaster was awarded Western Athetic Conference Player of the Week accolades for the week ending February 21. Goodpaster helped lead the Rebels to a 3-2 record in the UNLV Softball Classic at Sunset Park. In five games Goodpaster hit .467 (7-for-15) with eight RBI, seven runs, one double, one triple and two home runs. In the Rebels 12-0 victory over Utah State she went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run and two runs scored. She had four RBI and had her fourth home run of the season in the Rebels 6-4 win over Florida International.

GENEY ORRIS EARNS WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Freshman Geney Orris was awarded WAC Player of the Week honors for her efforts at the Kia Klassic hosted by Cal State Fullerton March 18-21. Orris went 4-for-14 (.286) in the Rebels five games at the tournament. She had 10 RBI, three runs, and back-to-back grand slam home runs against #4 Washington and Utah. Her first grand slam lifted the Rebels to a 4-0 lead against the top-ranked Huskies and helped UNLV to the 5-3 win. The second grand slam came a day later against Utah in the Rebels 10-6 victory over the Utes.

PROBABLE STARTERS:

                             Avg. HR   RBI   SB   NotesC/OF- #4  Cassi Dysert     .143   0    0   0-1   Has played in 27 games, starting nineor   #14  Steph Italiano   .250   1    5   0-0   Had her first HR against San Jose St.or    #8  Debbie Hatch     .071   0    2   0-0   Has starting 11 games at catcher1B-  #23  Kelly DeArman    .289   1    9   0-0   Hit her second career HR vs. San Jose St.or    #5  Erica Vollweiler .341   0    1   0-0   Went 4-for-4 against #5 Oklahoma2B/OF #2  Linda Garza      .292   0    6   1-1   Has five doubles and one triple this seasonor   #32  Devon Ramos      .130   0    0   0-0   Has started seven games at 2B this season SS - #26  R. Goodpaster    .353   8   20   0-0   Won WAC Player of the Week for Feb. 213B-  #16  Raven Coberg     .301   6   23   0-0   Leads the team with 23 RBIOF-  #10  Amy Alves        .175   0    2   0-0   Has started 22 of her 26 games in OFOF-   #3  Nicole Miller    .307   5   21   0-1   Second on the team with 31 hitsOF-   #7  Keao Chang       .239   1    4   0-0   Hit her first HR of the season against SJSU

Pitching Staff:

                               ERA   W-L    IP  SO  Notes      #28  Geney Orris         4.68  5-10  89.2  61  Had two grand slams and two wins at Kia      #9  Danielle Ferriera   4.38   0-1   8.0  13  Has appeared in seven games this year      #1  Charelle Ainslie    4.65   6-4  52.2  21  Batting .284, leads the team in wins (6)     #11  Nicole Truax        3.47   2-7  70.2  42  Recorded her first save against #4 UW

Rebel Bats Alive in 99: The Rebels have had little problem on offense this season. Through 33 games UNLV has 28 home runs. In 1998 the Rebels had a total of 25 home runs. Racheal Goodpaster leads the team with eight round-trippers. Raven Coberg and Geney Orris are on pace with six and Nicole Miller has added five. The team batting average is currently .282, which ranks third in the conference behind Fresno State (.314) and New Mexico (.299).

Head Coach Shan McDonald: Entering her 13th season as the Head Coach of Rebel Softball is Shan McDonald. McDonald has led the Rebels to seven NCAA Tournament appearances in the last nine years, including three World Series appearances (the last coming in 1995). She has compiled a career record of 410-314-2 in her 13 years at UNLV. She recorded her 400th career victory against Utah State at the Fiesta Bowl Tournament as the Rebels defeated the Aggies 6-4. In December of 1997, McDonald was honored for her play with the Canadian National team as her 1983 gold medal Pan-American team was inducted into the Canadian Softball Hall of Fame

Rebels Take on Elite Around the Country: UNLV has received a lot of exposure around the country with this years schedule. The Rebels have played teams from nearly every region of the United States when they competed in three tournaments (ASU Fiesta Bowl Tournament, UNLV Softball Classic and the Kia Klassic). The Rebels play 16 teams that were picked in the preseason Top 25 or are receiving votes in the poll. Four of those opponents are in conference, including National Champion Fresno State on April 2-3 at Bulldog Diamond.

1999 WAC Softball Standings

                  WAC Games          All Games                W   L    PCT.     W   L   T    PCT.Fresno St.     12   0  1.000     40   7   0   .851San Diego St.   7   2   .778     14  16   0   .467Hawaii         7   5   .583     21  15   0   .583New Mexico      5   4   .556     32   8   0   .800Utah            3   3   .500     16  16   0   .500UNLV            4   8   .333     13  20   0   .394Tulsa           3   6   .333     14  25   0   .359Colorado St.    2   7   .222     13  17   0   .433San Jose St.    2  10   .167     12  35   0   .255

NFCA/USA TODAY 1999 SOFTBALL POLL (Mar. 31, 1999)

     School           Record   Pts. 1.  UCLA (25)         33-0    625 2.  Arizona           30-4    600 3.  Fresno State      33-7    562 4.  Washington        24-6    527    5.  USL               31-5    516    6.  Arizona State     30-8    485 7.  Michigan        25-5-1    438 8.  Oklahoma          28-9    429    9.  Stanford          26-7    42510.  South Carolina    31-8    40011.  Louisiana State   25-5    381   12.  Oregon State     27-10    34213.  Oregon           27-10    29114.  California        27-8    283   15.  Texas            24-12    260    16.  Ill.-Chicago     42-13    24317.  So. Mississippi   34-5    230 18.  Texas A&M         31-8    18219.  South Florida    33-13    17120.  Iowa            22-9-1    15721.  New Mexico        29-8    12323.  Minnesota         22-7    10324.  DePaul           19-10     7425.  Missouri         26-12     36   

Others Receiving Votes: Michigan State (25), Hawai'i (19), Central Michigan (18), Evansville (16), Maryland (12), Nebraska (10), Oklahoma State (9), Florida State (8), Troy State (6), Hofstra (4), Southwest Missouri State (4), Baylor (2), Boston University (1), North Carolina (1), Notre Dame (1).

WAC Softball Tournament
May 13-15 - Fresno, Calif.

1999 is the first year the Western Athletic Conference will host a conference championship softball tournament. The top six teams, determined by regular season conference record, will be invited to compete in the three-day double-elimination tournament from May 13-15 at the Bulldog Diamond in Fresno, Calif. Also this season, the format of the conference schedule changes, as the teams will play three-game series with a single game and a doubleheader over a two-day span. This replaces the home-and-home doubleheader format that had been in effect in years past. While the regular-season conference record determines who will be invited to Fresno for the WAC Championship, it is the winner of the conference tournament who will receive the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament that this year begins May 21. This new concept to determine the Western Athletic Conference Champion is sure to provide excitement when the top six teams meet to play for a chance to advance to an NCAA regional.

Says Coach McDonald, "Im really happy with the change to a three-game series this season. Now there is an opportunity to determine a series winner and teams are not beating up on each other as much. Our goal is to play well in the conference season and have a chance to compete in the tournament. In the tournament you will see a number of strong teams and with the double-elimination format the best team will surface."

1999 WAC Coaches Poll

Team                 1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   Total1.  Fresno St.       8   -   -   -   -   -   -   -     642.  Hawaii          1   4   3   -   -   -   -   -     543.  Utah             -   4   4   -   -   -   -   -     524.  Colorado St.     -   1   2   3   -   2   -   -     405.  UNLV             -   -   -   4   3   1   -   -     356.  San Diego St.    -   -   -   2   4   -   2   -     307.  San Jose St.     -   -   -   -   1   4   2   1     218.  New Mexico       -   -   -   -   -   2   2   4     148.  Tulsa            -   -   -   -   1   -   3   4     14
* coaches cannot vote for their own teams