March 5, 2002
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STORYLINE: The UNLV Softball team (10-13) hosts a tournament for the third time this year and for the second time at its new Eller Media Stadium. Squaring off in the three-day, four-team affair with the Rebels are Boston College, Oregon and Notre Dame. Although it is officially declared a tournament, there is no official tournament name, not all the teams involved will meet and there will be no champion crowned. The event marks the fifth of six straight weekends in tourney play for the Rebels. Sunday's game will also feature UNLV's radio debut this season, with longtime broadcaster Scott Robbs calling the action. The game will be aired in Las Vegas on KSHP 1400 AM and worldwide on unlvrebels.com. The game will also be shown on a tape delay basis on Las Vegas UPN affiliate KTUD with Tim Neverett and Trip Mitchell providing commentary.
ABOUT UNLV: UNLV returns five starters in the field, three on the mound and 11 letterwinners from last year's 26-30 squad ... After reeling off a six-game winning streak, the school's longest in seven years, the Rebels dropped eight straight before a 1-0 shutout of Utah State last Sunday ... Of the Rebels' 23 games this season, 11 have come against teams appearing in the NFCA Coaches Poll ... At the plate, Geney Orris leads the team in batting average (.288), home runs (5) and RBI (11) ... In the circle, Jackie Kerrigan is the Rebels' leader with a 1.84 ERA and 43 strikeouts ... Head coach Shan McDonald is in her 16th season at the helm of the Rebel program, carrying a 470-429-2 (.523) mark.
ABOUT BOSTON COLLEGE: Boston College (3-10) looks to break a three-game losing streak in Las Vegas after dropping all three to No. 9 Arizona State over the weekend ... The Eagles are led at the plate by Cara Blumfield (.500/4/14), who already has four home runs and 14 RBI in just 13 games ... Kim Ryan is BC's top performer in the circle, bringing a 1-4 record, 4.31 ERA and 39 strikeouts to Vegas ... In her sixth year with the Eagels, Jennifer Finley has a 183-127-1 record and an overall coaching mark of 259-164-1 ... Texas A&M is the only opponent common to both schools. The Aggies took two from BC, 8-0 and 9-0, while beating UNLV just 6-2 ... Friday's game will be the first meeting between the two programs.
ABOUT OREGON: Oregon (11-7) has already competed in two of the same tournaments as UNLV this season, but the two schools have yet to meet ... The Ducks posted a 3-2 mark at the Utah Red Desert Classic last week, including wins over Utah State, Southern Utah and Eastern Kentucky ... Andrea Vidlund (.426/5/19) leads the squad in hitting, and Anissa Meashintubby is 4-2 on the year with a 2.05 ERA ... First-year head coach Brett Rincon is 11-7 on the season ... OU has an impressive eight opponents in common with UNLV this season ... UNLV leads the all-time series between the schools, 9-4 ... Although she never played for the Ducks, UNLV assistant coach Kendall Richards is a Eugene, Ore., native.
ABOUT NOTRE DAME: Although Notre Dame (5-7) comes into the weekend just 5-7, the Fighting Irish are ranked 24th in the latest NFCA Coaches Poll and have faced almost as many ranked teams as the Rebels ... A 1-0 win over Illinois State stopped a four-game losing streak ... Steffa Stenglein is the club's top pitcher, boasting a 4-6 record and a 2.81 ERA ... Megan Ciolli (.351/1/4) paces the team in batting average and is tied for the team lead in home runs and RBI ... Head coach Deanna Gumpf is in her first year, but has retained the services of former Rebel assistant coach Kris McCleary ... Both Notre Dame and UNLV suffered early-season losses to Texas A&M, the only common opponent ... Sunday's game will be the first meeting between the two.
LAST WEEK: The Rebels stumbled out of the gate at the Utah Red Desert Classic and never got back on track. Opening play with No. 3 Stanford, UNLV suffered its worst loss of the season, 8-0 in six innings, after Nicole Truax served up a game-winning home run to the Cardinal's Kira Ching. Things looked no better against No. 12 Washington as the Rebels were still unable to produce any runs and fell 4-0 for their fifth shutout of the year. A day later, UNLV dropped a 5-4 heartbreaker to UC Santa Barbara, leaving the tying run in scoring position. Kacey Ellis produced the team's only hit in a 6-1 loss to Eastern Kentucky. UNLV snapped its eight-game losing streak in the tournament finale against Utah State as Geney Orris' second home run of the tournament was all that was needed for the 1-0 whitewash. Jackie Kerrigan struck out five in her first collegiate shutout.
RANKED OPPONENTS: Already UNLV has 12 games against 10 different opponents that have received votes in the NFCA Coaches Poll this season:
Opponent Date Results Rank Then Rank Now Wisconsin Feb. 8 L, 3-0 29 26 Nebraska Feb. 8 L, 1-0 12 4 Massachusetts Feb. 9 W, 6-4 24 27 California Feb. 9 L, 5-0 5 6 Texas A&M Feb. 10 L, 6-2 NR 23 Alabama Feb. 15 L, 8-2 13 14 Pacific Feb. 23 L, 4-3 12 10 DePaul Feb. 23 L, 3-2 15 15 DePaul Feb. 24 L, 3-1 15 15 Pacific Feb. 24 L, 5-1 12 10 Stanford March 1 L, 8-0 3 3 Washington March 1 L, 4-0 12 12
ELLER MEDIA STADIUM FIRSTS: First game: Saint Mary's at UNLV, Feb. 5, 2002 First win: 6-2, vs. Saint Mary's (Game 1) First loss: 4-3, vs. Pacific, Feb. 23, 2002 First shutout: Nicole Truax vs. Southern Utah (Game 1), Feb. 20, 2002 First extra-inning game: Southern Utah at UNLV (Game 1) First hit: Bridget Byrne, B1 vs. Saint Mary's (Game 1) First run: Geney Orris, B4 vs. Saint Mary's (Game 1) First RBI: Melissa Bruechert, B4 vs. Saint Mary's (Game 1) First double: Morgan Bostwick, B4 vs. Saint Mary's (Game 1) First triple: Melissa Inouye, B6 vs. Saint Mary's (Game 1) First home run: Geney Orris, B4 vs. Saint Mary's (Game 2) First grand slam: Pauline Glenn, B7 vs. Saint Mary's (Game 2) First pinch hit: Wendy Godwin, B7 vs. Saint Mary's (Game 2) First stolen base: Bridget Byrne, B1 vs. Saint Mary's (Game 1) First sacrifice: Lauren Capoccia (SMC), B1 vs. Saint Mary's (Game 2) First sacrifice fly: Morgan Bostwick, B5 vs. Saint Mary's (Game 1) First walk: Pauline Glenn, B1 vs. Saint Mary's (Game 1) First strikeout: Kami Gray (SMC) by Geney Orris, T1 vs. Saint Mary's (Game 1) First error: Arica Painter, T1 vs. Saint Mary's (Game 1) First double play: Inouye to Bostwick to Campbell, T1 vs. Saint Mary's (Game 1)
SHE'S GOING THE DISTANCE ... : While head coach Shan McDonald might tell you that offense is the team's strength, it has been pitching that is coming through for the Rebels. In five games at the ASU Fiesta Bowl Tournament, UNLV got a complete-game pitching effort from all four hurlers on the staff. The Rebels turned the same trick during the third week of the season, including the team's first shutout by Nicole Truax in eight innings. At the Utah Red Desert Classic, seven-inning outings came from Geney Orris, Kacey Ellis and Jackie Kerrigan. The Rebels have 12 complete games in 23 contests this year.
JACKIE THE K: After slight disappointments in her first two outings, freshman pitcher Jackie Kerrigan responded with heroic efforts in Week 2. She struck out 13 in her first collegiate win over Kansas. She then closed a solid performance by Nicole Truax against Texas Tech to pick up her first career save. Just hours later, Kerrigan came to the rescue a second time, holding Central Michigan down for her second win. In the tourney finale, she shut the door on Cal Poly for her second save in as many days. She was chosen the MWC Pitcher of the Week for her efforts. Kerrigan leads the Rebels with four complete games, a 1.84 ERA and 43 strikeouts.
IN A PINCH: When the game is on the line, head coach Shan McDonald looks no further down the dugout than to sophomore Wendy Godwin. Coming off the bench to hit 10 times this year, Godwin has delivered four key hits, all in the seventh inning. Against Saint Mary's, she began a seventh-inning rally that broke a 3-3 tie, and she drove in the Rebels' only run in a 3-1 loss to DePaul. Although she has only 13 at bats, Godwin leads the team with a .308 average.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: UNLV turned out three Mountain West Conference Player or Pitcher of the Week selections in just the first two weeks of the season. Geney Orris earned the league's pitching award on Feb. 12, while Jackie Kerrigan and Pauline Glenn were honored the following week as the circuit's top pitcher and player, respectively.
