May 7, 1998

LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- The Rebels travel to Albuquerque, N.M. for their final two games of the season against New Mexico. The Lobos are currently 23-38 overall and 8-22 in conference. They are coming off a 2-2 split at home against Tulsa last weekend. The doubleheader begins Saturday, May 9 at 1:00pm.

RECAP: The Rebels traveled to Hawai'i to face the no. 12 team in the nation and lost the first two of a four-game series Friday at Rainbow Wahine Park. UNLV lost both games of the doubleheader by the score of 4-1. The day was highlighted by a great performance by senior Julie Crandall who went 4-for-6 with a double and a home run. In game one the Rebels jumped to the early 1-0 lead when Crandall hit her eighth home run of the season. The Rainbow Wahine tied it up in their half of the second when Dana Degan doubled to start off the inning and later scored on a wild pitch by Brandi Isgar. The score remained tied at one until the bottom of the fourth when Mel McGie scored off a double by Kehau Cofran to give the Rainbow Wahine the 2-1 advantage. Hawai'i added two in the sixth for the 4-1 victory. Isgar took the loss to drop her season record to 13-19. In the nightcap the Wahine took a 2-0 lead in their half of the first inning off a two-run home run by McGie. A home run in the Hawai'i half of the second by Aiko Okamura and another score in the third made the score 4-0. UNLV got on the board in the top of the fourth by way of a Raven Coberg RBI-double, scoring Crandall. The Rebels held Hawai'i without a score for the remainder of the game but could not overcome the deficit, going on to lose 4-1.

The Rebels were back in action Saturday against the Rainbow Wahine. Unfortunately for UNLV the Wahine were too strong on this day as well, as Hawai'i defeated the Rebels in both games of the doubleheader 5-1 and 9-1 to sweep the two-day series. In game one the Rainbow Wahine took the early 1-0 lead after lead-off hitter Tia Morenz singled and reached third on a Rebel error by right fielder Keao Chang and later scored on a Tyree Woodruff RBI-single. Nicole Miller tied it up with a swing of the bat in the third, hitting her fourth home run of the season. It was Miller's first home run after coming back from injury. Her last round-tripper was February 27 against Tulsa when she had two home runs in a game. Hawai'i quickly jumped back on top in the third with a two-RBI double by Joyce Lum to give the Wahine the 3-1 lead. Hawai'i added two in its half of the fifth after three consecutive singles started the inning. UNLV could not answer, going on to lose by the 1-5 final. The nightcap saw UNLV fall to another early deficit as Hawai'i scored two in the bottom of the first inning. The Rebels got one run back in the second off Devon Ramos' RBI-single that scored Raven Coberg. The Wahine opened it back up to a two-run lead in the third with a two-out RBI-single by Kehau Cofran. A three-run homer by Mel McGie in the fourth gave Hawai'i what proved to be the insurmountable 6-1 advantage. Hawai'I then added three in the sixth to take the game by way of the eight-run mercy rule, 9-1. Danielle Ferriera was credited with the loss to drop her season record to 3-9.

COMING UP: UNLV concludes its season with a conference doubleheader at New Mexico this Saturday, May 9. New Mexico is currently in ninth place in the conference with an overall record of 23-38 and owns a 8-22 conference mark. The series record between these two teams stand at 7-2, including three out of four Rebel wins last season. UNLV swept the earlier season meeting in Las Vegas, winning 4-2 and 1-0.

POSSIBLE STARTERS:                           Avg.   HR  RBI SB  NotesC/OF- #16 Julie Crandall.345    8   26  4-6 Named WAC Player of the Week for 4/61B- #23 Kelly DeArman   .145    1   9   0-0 Had her first career HR against CSUor  #12 Audrey Munoz    .154    0   1   0-0 Has started 20of her 29 games at 1B2B/OF- #2  Linda Garza  .223    1   9   2-4 First career HR was against #7 Oklahomaor  #32  Devon Ramos    .193    0   7   0-0 Has a .938 fld. % at 2B3B-  #16 Raven Coberg   .295    6   33  0-0 Currently hitting .344 in conferenceOF-  #8 Debbie Hatch    .155    0   3   0-0 Has a .269 OB %, including 9 walksOF-  #3  Nicole Miller  .260    4   5   0-2 Returned from injury and hit HR vs. UHOF-  #7 Keao Chang  .264    1   10  4-7 Fourth on the team with a .340 slug. %
Pitching Staff:                        ERA     W-L     IP      SO  Notes#20  Brandi Isgar       2.49    13-20   211.0   126 Leads the WAC with 40 appearances#23  Kelly DeArman      3.61    3-1     52.1    12  Has 20 appearances on the season#9    Danielle Ferriera 4.05    3-9     74.1    41  Second on the team w/ 350batters faced

Head Coach Shan McDonald: In 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 395-294-2 in her 11 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.

All-America Candidate Julie Crandall: Julie Crandall is in 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 has had a strong senior season and is in contention for All-Wac honors once again. 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. Against San Jose State and Fresno State she hit .571 with four home runs. Two home runs came in one game against SJSU, to help propel UNLV to the 6-5 victory. She had two home runs against Fresno State, one in each game. In game one, her home run ended Amanda Scott's scoreless inning streak at 26.1. For her efforts she was awarded WAC Player of the Week accolades for the week ending April 6. Last weekend in Hawai'i Crandall went four-for-six in Friday's doubleheader, including a double and her eighth home run of the season.

Rebels Take on Elite Around the Country: UNLV received a lot of exposure around the country with this year's schedule. It played teams from nearly every region of the United States when it played in three tournaments (ASU Coca Cola Classic, UNLV Softball Classic and the Kia Klassic). The Rebels played 14 teams that are currently either ranked in the top 25 or receiving votes. Five of those were top 10 teams in no. 3 Fresno State, no. 4 Washington, no. 7 Oklahoma, no. 8 Texas and no. 10 Hawai'i.