4/20/2000 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 20, 2000
LAS VEGAS - The UNLV Rebel softball team (15-31, 1-9) will be traveling to the state of Utah to compete in doubleheaders against Mountain West foes Utah (27-19, 7-3) on Friday, April 21st and BYU (10-19, 2-8) Saturday, April 22nd. Both contests are scheduled to begin at 1:30 (MST). The Rebels rank 6th in the Mountain West, while the Cougars sit in the 5th-place slot and the Utes only one game out of 1st place.
The Rebels are in an eight-game spill over the last week and a half, but aim to rebound during the second half of league play. Last season the Rebels finished 6th in WAC with a conference record of 8-16 and look to match, if not exceed, their final placing during the remainder of this season.
One of the bright spots this year for softball is the play of junior shortstop Racheal Goodpaster. She leads the team in batting average (.398), runs (34), hits (51), doubles (10), homeruns (12), stolen bases (7) and RBI's (32). The shortstop has only missed three games due to injury and has started every other. On defense, Goodpaster boasts a .902 fielding percentage with 55 put outs and team high 130 assists. In the Mountain West Conference, Goodpaster sits 7th in batting average (.406), ties for 3rd in runs scored (9), 1st in slugging percentage (.875), and 6th in hits (13). She ranks 1st in total bases (28), ties for 5th in on base percentage (.441), ties for 2nd in RBI's (10), and leads the league in homeruns (4). In the national rankings, Goodpaster sits 12th in home runs with 12 (0.28 per game). The 1999 first team All-WAC and All-West Region recipient will challenge for All-MWC as well as All-America accolades this season.
UNLV will play the final home game of the season Thursday, April 27th against San Diego State (25-21, 7-3) at the Rebel Diamond. The first pitch of the doubleheader is schedule to be thrown out at 1:00pm (PST). The game was rescheduled from April 28th to one day earlier (27th).
