6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Softball
LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- UNLV returns from a week off to host two conference matchups against San Jose State and Fresno State.
The doubleheaders are scheduled for Friday and Saturday at 12:00pm.
San Jose State enters Friday's game with an overall record of 15-16 and a 3-7 conference mark, while Fresno State is ranked #4 in the country with its record of 19-4 and 8-0 in the WAC.
RECAP: The Rebels game against Lower Columbia Junior College, scheduled for Thursday at noon, was cancelled due to rain and poor field conditions. It will not be rescheduled. UNLV's last action was at the Kia Klassic. The Rebels went 1-4 but three of the four losses came to teams that are currently ranked in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 poll.
The Rebels were defeated by #11 Texas, #22 Cal State Northridge and #6 Oklahoma. The fourth loss came in a 4-6 decision to Georgia State. UNLV finished the tournament with a 4-2 win over Cal State Fullerton in the consolation round.
In the first game on Thursday, the Rebels played a close game with the Longhorns, resulting in a 1-0 eight-inning defeat. The Rebels recorded just one hit, a single by Stephanee Italiano, but managed to put runners in scoring position.
UNLV left seven stranded and were unable to score in the eighth after they were given a runner on second via the international tiebreaker rule.
The Rebels were not able to stop Texas in its half of the inning as Jody Reeves recorded the game-winning RBI. Brandi Isgar recorded the loss for the Rebels, pitching a complete game and giving up one unearned run on nine hits. The second game was a dual with Georgia State. After building a 3-0 lead, UNLV allowed Georgia State back in the game on the strength of five runs in the fifth and sixth innings, including a three run homer by Monica Pardo in the sixth to give the Bulldogs their first lead of the game. The two teams traded runs in the seventh for the 6-4 final.
Next up for the Rebels was #22 Cal State Northridge. Once again the offense never surfaced for the Rebels, who finished with just two hits and had a total of four runners on base. Northridge on the other hand recorded nine hits and managed two runs while leaving nine runners on base. Isgar took the loss to drop her record to 6-10.
The loss to Northridge gave UNLV the fourth seed in the A pool and pitted them against the #6 team in the nation, Oklahoma. The Sooners jumped to a 5-0 lead, including two home runs for four runs in the fifth. UNLV answered in the top of the sixth with two home runs of its own. One home run came off the bat of Linda Garza. The two run shot was the first of her career at UNLV. Julie Crandall took Garza's lead with a solo homer two batters later.
Unfortunately for the Rebels, this was all the runs they would produce as the Sooners went on to take a 5-3 victory. The tournament did end on a good note however, as UNLV was able to take a victory from host Cal State Fullerton. The Rebels built a three-run lead in the sixth inning. Kelly DeArman had the two-RBI double and then scored off a Keao Chang double in the next at bat.
The Titans came to within one by scoring two runs in their half of the sixth but UNLV scored an insurance run in the seventh and disposed of Fullerton 1-2-3 in their last plate appearance.
Isgar, a transfer from Cal State Fullerton two seasons ago, recorded the win as she gave up just three hits and was credited with two earned runs. She walked four batters and struck out five.
POSSIBLE STARTERS: Avg. HR RBI SB NotesC- #16 Julie Crandall .306 3 16 3-5 Had her third HR against #6 Oklahoma1B- #23 Kelly DeArman .186 1 7 0-0 Had her first career HR against CSUor #12 Audrey Munoz .133 0 0 0-0 Has started 10 of her 12 games at 1B2B- #2 Linda Garza .253 1 4 2-4 First career HR was against #6 Oklahomaor #32 Devon Ramos .228 0 2 0-0 Third on the team with a .362 on-base %3B- #16 Raven Coberg .257 2 13 0-0 Had a grand slam HR against SDSULF- #8 Debbie Hatch .118 0 2 0-0 Has a .960 fld. % with just one error in OFCF- #3 Nicole Miller .236 3 4 0-1 Had two HR in game against TulsaRF- #7 Keao Chang .316 1 4 4-6 First career HR came vs. Bowling Green
Pitching Staff: ERA W-L IP SO Notes#20 Brandi Isgar 1.83 7-10 107.0 67 Top in WAC in IP and complete games (11)#23 Kelly DeArman 2.02 3-1 34.2 9 Has not given up a HR in 162 batters faced#9 Danielle Ferriera 2.12 3-2 39.2 28 Team-low opponent/avg. of .222
Head Coach Shan McDonald: Entering her 12th season as the Head Coach of Rebel Softball is Shan McDonald. McDonald has led the Rebels to seven NCAA Tournament appearances in the last eight years, including three World Series appearances (the last coming in 1995). She has compiled a career record of 389-277-2 in her years at UNLV. Last December 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 in '98: UNLV returns seven players from last year's team that went 26-28 and 17-15 in Western Athletic Conference play. The Rebels have added nine new players to their roster, including seven freshman additions, one sophomore transfer and one junior college transfer. Two players, Jessica Jones and Tina Parry, will redshirt this season and join the Rebels next year. The Rebels have power at the plate and speed on the bases and on defense. The key to their success this season could prove to be the play on the mound. Brandi Isgar is the Rebels' top returner to the mound. After compiling a record of 10-13 and a team-best 2.22 ERA, she will be looked at to take on a large amount of the pitching duties. Sophomore transfer Danielle Ferriera comes to UNLV from Cal State Fullerton also will be important for the Rebels success this season. Kelly DeArman will likely see extensive duties on the mound. She pitched in only one game in 1997 but has already seen action in three games this year. She recorded the first save of her career against #12 Massachusetts at the ASU Coca Cola Classic.
All-America Candidate Julie Crandall: Julie Crandall enters her final season with the Rebels and has the potential to make it her best year yet. A three-time all-conference honoree and an All-American in 1995, Crandall is off to a strong start in '98. In the Rebels' four games at the ASU Coca Cola Classic Crandall hit .300 on 3-for-10 at the plate. She recorded a .700 slugging percentage and had her first home run of the season, a three-run shot to give the Rebels an early 3-0 lead over #12 Massachusetts. She was walked three consecutive times after her home run. She was walked five times in the course of the three-day tournament. She recorded her second home run of the season against Oregon. She was 2-for-4 with two RBI in the game. The performance moved her into sole possession of third place on UNLV's career RBI list. She is also third in career home runs with 14, her last coming against #6 Oklahoma at the Kia Klassic. Crandall hit .455 over the four games against Utah and Colorado State. She compiled three RBI off two doubles.
Rebels Across the Country: UNLV will get a lot of exposure around the country with this year's schedule. It plays teams from nearly every region of the United States when it plays in three tournaments (ASU Coca Cola Classic, UNLV Softball Classic and the Kia Klassic). The Rebels are scheduled to play games against some of the elite programs in the country, including non-conference games against Texas, Massachusetts, Washington, California, Arizona State, Cal State Fullerton. This is in addition to the matchups they have within one of the best softball conferences in the country in the WAC. The Rebels will face three teams that were in last year's NCAA Tournament: Fresno State, Colorado State and Utah.
Conference Overall W L Pct. W L T Pct.Fresno State 8 0 1.000 19 4 0 .826Hawai'i 9 1 .900 32 6 0 .842Utah 7 3 .700 13 9 0 .591UNLV 7 5 .583 13 13 0 .500San Diego State 6 6 .500 13 23 0 .361San Jose State 3 7 .300 15 16 0 .484New Mexico 2 8 .200 13 21 0 .382Colorado State 1 7 .125 11 15 0 .423Tulsa 1 7 .125 9 17 0 .346
NFCA/USA TODAY 1998 SOFTBALL POLL (Mar. 25, 1998)
SCHOOL 1998 RECORD POINTS1. Arizona (25) 30-2 6252. Michigan 21-3 5993. Washington 17-4 5654. Fresno State 15-4 5285. Oklahoma 30-7 5186. Texas 29-7 4667. Arizona State 24-6 4338. Missouri 20-5 4259. South Florida 34-9 41210. Oklahoma State 23-7 40711. Hawai'i 30-6 37012. Nebraska 21-7 35513. Long Beach State 22-8-2 30114. Stanford 17-4 29215. Iowa 14-5 28916. LSU 30-4 27617. Florida State 32-12 20818. Oregon State 17-8 17219. California 20-11 14820. Minnesota 20-7 14121. Cal State Northridge 17-11-1 117 22. Oregon 23-10 11023. Texas Tech 32-10 7424. DePaul 10-4 4625. USL 17-8 40
Dropped Out: Florida.
Others Receiving Votes: Illinois-Chicago (37); South Carolina (35); Florida (31); Kansas (10); Texas A&M (9); Nicholls State (5); Northern Illinois (5); Creighton (4); Southern Illinois (4).
