April 17, 2002
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STORYLINE: The UNLV Rebel Softball team (23-29, 3-7) begins the second half of Mountain West Conference play and continues its eight-game road swing this week with a pair of games in Utah. A doubleheader with Utah (19-31, 7-3) on Friday, April 19 at 1:30 p.m. MDT kicks the week off before the Rebs face BYU (26-18, 3-7) on Saturday, April 20 at 12 noon. The weekend will end an eight-game conference road swing for UNLV.
ABOUT UNLV: The Rebels split a pair of league doubleheaders last weekend, defeating Colorado State 2-0 before a 3-2 loss and dropping a 6-1 decision to New Mexico before rallying for a 6-4 win in the nightcap ... UNLV is currently tied for fifth in the league standings with BYU, but sit just two games out of third place and five behind conference leader San Diego State ... At the plate, leadoff hitter Lisa Moses leads the team in batting average (.329) while Geney Orris (.323/8/28) and Pauline Glenn (.262/7/26) supply the power ... In the circle, Kacey Ellis has a team-best winning percentage at 5-3, and freshman Jackie Kerrigan has a 8-13 record, a 2.12 ERA and 105 strikeouts ... Head coach Shan McDonald is in her 16th season at the helm of the Rebel program, carrying a 483-445-2 (.520) mark.
LAST AT BAT: The Rebels (23-29, 3-7) returned from the conference's long road trip with the same result at each stop. A combined shutout by Nicole Truax and Geney Orris powered a 2-0 victory in the opening game against Colorado State. The Rebels looked as if their first-ever MWC sweep was on the way after taking an early 2-0 lead in the day's late game, but a three-run homer by the Rams' Maren Christensen forced a split in the twin bill. Two days later, Truax was bruised by New Mexico, giving up five runs in the first two innings. Although Jackie Kerrigan looked sharp in relief, the Lobos' lead was unsurmountable, and UNM rolled to a 6-1 win. The Rebels bats came alive in the second game, however, as Orris and Pauline Glenn both hit their eighth home runs of the year and a timely pinch hit by Wendy Godwin drove in the winning runs in a 6-4 victory.
ABOUT UTAH: Utah (19-31, 7-3) leapt into second place last weekend after sweeping BYU in two extra-inning games, 3-2 and 8-7 ... The Utes are led in hitting by Molly McLean (.344/4/21) and in pitching by Heather Bowlin (10-15, 2.82) ... Head coach Mona Stevens is 206-145-1 in her sixth year at Utah ... Utah leads the all-time series 25-19.
ABOUT BYU: BYU (26-18, 3-7) was on the receiving end of Utah's sweep last week ... The Cougars are just 1-7 in league play since opening MWC play with a sweep against the Rebels in Las Vegas on March 29 ... UNLV and BYU are tied for fifth place in the MWC standings at 3-7 ... Oli Keohohou (..442/16/42) leads the Cougars and the Mountain West Conference in hitting, home runs and RBI ... Ariel Capra (8-4, 3.27) leads a balanced staff in the circle ... Mary Kay Amicone, the only coach in BYU history, is in her third year at the Cougars' helm with a career record of 77-71 ... BYU leads the all-time series 9-3.
OH, NO, NOT 1-0: Five times this year and three times on the Rebels' spring break trip through Oregon did the final score reflect a 1-0 victory for UNLV's opponent. In her collegiate debut back on Feb. 8, Jackie Kerrigan lost a 1-0 decision to then-No. 12 Nebraska. Kerrigan was victimized a second time at Portland State after the Vikings stole a run on a seeing-eye RBI single. Two days later, Nicole Truax was superbly sharp in holding Oregon to three hits, but the Ducks managed two of them in the same inning and used a pair of sacrifices to score the game's only run. Finally, the Rebels' looked as if they had shed the jinx after battling to a scoreless tie at 14th-ranked Oregon State through five innings. But a disputable ball-four call with the bases loaded forced Geney Orris to suffer a three-hit, 1-0 loss of her own. Most recently, Kerrigan was shocked again after San Diego State made a first-inning run stand up for a victory.
THE YOUTH OF THE NATION: The Rebels' youth have been thrown into the fire this season as the team's eight freshmen make up nearly one-half of the roster ... Aside from redshirt freshman Bianca Gonzales, who tore her ACL before the season began, all have contributed to the Rebs' efforts as well ... Only four players have played in all 52 games this year, and one of them is freshman Morgan Bostwick, who has started at first, second and short ... Pauline Glenn has missed only one start at third base and ranks among the team leaders in home runs, RBI, walks, on-base percentage and runs scored ... Amber Campbell has earned 36 starts at shortstop ... Walk-ons Melissa Bruechert, Kira Enlow and Jennie Whitman have also chipped in, supplying depth in key pinch hitting and pinch running roles ... And perhaps the most significant freshman contribution has come from pitcher Jackie Kerrigan, who leads the Rebel staff in wins, appearances, innings, complete games, strikeouts and ERA.
JACKIE THE K: Speaking of Kerrigan, the touted freshman has already built a pretty impressive trophy case in just two months at UNLV. She claimed both all-tournament honors and MWC Pitcher of the Week honors after leading UNLV to a 4-2 record at the Capital Classic in mid-March. The Eugene, Ore., native went 3-1, including a one-hit shutout of Sacramento State and a 4-3 nine-inning loss to Miami (Ohio). It was the second shutout of the year for the fab freshman after a 1-0 win over Utah State. Kerrigan has been just as solid against some of the country's best. She knocked off then-No. 29 Notre Dame, 2-1, on March 10 and dropped a 1-0 heartbreaker to Nebraska, now ranked fourth nationally. At the UNLV Softball Classic, she struck out 13 in her first collegiate win over Kansas, and 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, earning her first MWC Pitcher of the Week award.
TRIPLE PLAY: When the Rebels defeated IUPUI, Sacramento State and Middle Tennessee on March 15 at the Capital Classic, it was just the 10th tripleheader in school history and only the second time that UNLV escaped the day unblemished. At the 1990 UNLV Spring Fling, the Rebels dumped Sac State, Oregon State and Southwest Texas State on March 2. The Rebels also boast a three-win day on April 13, 1996 when a previously suspended game against San Jose State was played out before a scheduled doubleheader. UNLV won the resumed game, 6-5 in 10 innings before a 5-0, 14-6 sweep of the slated twin bill.
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 21 times this year, Godwin has delivered six key hits, five of them in the seventh inning. But it was her sixth-inning double at New Mexico that was the most key as she drove in two runs to erase a 4-3 deficit and put the Rebels up 5-4 in a game they would go on to win. 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 ... When it's a key run McDonald wants, she calls on Jennie Whitman, who has scored four times and is a perfect 3-for-3 in stolen bases in 15 pinch running situations this year.
