May 29, 2002
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STORYLINE: The UNLV Softball team (30-34, 8-8) wrapped up its most successful season in six years, failing to secure a postseason bid after a pair of losses at the Mountain West Conference Championship. Despite missing on the big goal, the Rebels posted their best conference finish since tying for second place in the 1996 Big West Conference race, knocked off two ranked opponents, and placed two players on the league's all-conference team. UNLV also opened its new home in 2002, the $2.7 million Eller Media Stadium at Jim Rogers Field. The Rebs rolled to a 13-11 mark in their new home, including four straight victories at the season's end. UNLV enjoyed two separate winning streaks of at least five games, and the six straight that the Rebels reeled off in mid-February marked the team's longest such streak in seven years.
ABOUT UNLV: The Rebels return 13 letterwinners, seven starters in the field and two pitchers in 2003, when they will look to build upon this year's third-place ... They will, however, lose the services of catcher Melissa Inouye, second baseman Arica Painter, and pitchers Geney Orris and Nicole Truax ... Orris (.323/13/42), who was named both an All-American and the MWC Player of the Year, led the team and ranked among the league's leaders in nearly every offensive category ... All-Mountain West Conference third baseman Pauline Glenn (.251/11/34) is the Rebels' returning leader in home runs and RBI, and outfielder Lisa Moses (.304/0/13) is the team's top returning hitter for the second straight year ... Also returning to the outfield next season are Bridget Byrne, the team's stolen base and sacrifice leader, and Carrie Bayless, who hit a team-best .366 in conference ... Morgan Bostwick and Amber Campbell join Glenn as the infield's returning starters ... In the circle, Orris tied for the team lead in wins (9-8, 2.87) while freshman Jackie Kerrigan (9-15, 2.16) has a team-best ERA and 125 strikeouts, and Kacey Ellis (7-3, 2.60) was top in winning percentage ... Ellis and Kerrigan join touted newcomer Erin Sigala on the Rebs' prospective three-pitcher staff next year ... Head coach Shan McDonald completed her 16th season at the helm of the Rebel program and carries an overall coaching mark of 490-450-2 (.521).
ORRIS FOR US: The postseason awards did not stop rolling in for senior pitcher and designated player Geney Orris. On May 9, Orris was chosen the Mountain West Conference Player of the Year after turning in one of the top seasons in the league. Just a week later, she was named the All-West Region's first team designated player, which set up perhaps the most prestigious of her awards, a second-team All-America selection. The 19th softball All-American in UNLV history, the super senior's bat never stepped out of the lineup over the 64-game season. Her 13 home runs ranked fifth on the school's single-season record list, as did her 42 RBI and 14 doubles. In her career, she belted 32 round-trippers, the third-best total in school history. She was also highly effective in the circle. The Brea, Calif., righty won her ninth game of the year when she knocked off San Diego State in the season finale. While her statistics in the circle looked respectable, they were no indication of her performance in big games. She defeated then-No. 24 Massachusetts on Feb. 9 and went on to claim MWC Pitcher of the Week honors for her efforts. Perhaps her sharpest outing of the year came in a three-hit, 1-0 loss at No. 14 Oregon State. Once league play began, Orris rolled to a 5-1 record. She ranks among the school's career leaders in a multitude of pitching categories, including appearances, starts, wins, losses, saves, strikeouts and shutouts.
BREAK OUT THE BROOMS: After nearly completing its third year in the Mountain West Conference without a sweep of a league doubleheader, UNLV swept two opponents in the same weekend. The weekend began with 6-5 and 4-2 victories over New Mexico on April 26, fueled by a game-winning single in the seventh by Kacey Ellis, a three-run homer by Pauline Glenn in the nightcap, and a 13-strikeout gem by Jackie Kerrigan. Two days later, a pair of come-from-behind wins over Colorado State marked the Rebels' fourth-straight league win and second doubleheader sweep. Melissa Inouye and Wendy Godwin drove in the respective game-winners and helped the Rebels climb from sixth place to third in the conference standings, where the team would go on to finish. Prior to the busy weekend, the last conference doubleheader the Rebels swept came at the end of the 1999 season when they took two from then-WAC rival Utah.
GOING AND GOING AND GOING: UNLV's doubleheader against Utah on April 21 was the Rebs' longest day of the year. After playing the first 52 games on its schedule in under three hours, the day's opener was pushed over the three-hour mark as both teams combined for 21 runs and 23 hits. But 3:02 was a sprint compared to the nightcap. Down 4-1, Geney Orris hit a three-run home run in the sixth to knot the score and force the Rebels to their fourth extra-inning game of the year. Without the benefit of the tie-breaker rule for conference games, Utah and UNLV played three innings before Orris broke the monotony with her second consecutive home run, an opposite field solo shot to give the Rebs their first lead. As Utah luck would have it, the Utes also got a solo homer in the bottom of the inning and came back in the 11th to score the game-winner, ending the marathon day seven hours after it began.
JACKIE THE K: Touted freshman pitcher Jackie Kerrigan has already built a pretty impressive trophy case in just one season at UNLV. She claimed both all-tournament honors and MWC Pitcher of the Week kudos 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. She was nearly perfect in finishing off San Diego State in the regular season finale for her third save of the year, and tied an eight-year-old school record when she recorded her fourth save of the year over Colorado State at the MWC Tournament.
FLYIN' HAWAIIAN: Senior catcher Melissa Inouye found her bat down the stretch of the season, helping lead the Rebels to six wins in their final seven games, When San Diego State held her to an 0-for-3 performance at the plate in the regular season finale, it ended a 12-game hitting streak, the team's longest of the season. But not before she was able to drive in two key runs, one which helped the Rebels to victory. Over her 12-game hitting streak, the Mililani, Hawaii, product batted a team-best .405 (15-for-37) with four doubles and four RBI and lifted her season average more than 50 points, from .178 to .229.
THE YOUTH OF THE NATION: The Rebels' youth were thrown into the fire this season as the team's eight freshmen made 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 played in all 64 games this year, and one of them was freshman Morgan Bostwick, who started at first, second and short ... All-Mountain West Conference choice Pauline Glenn missed only one start at third base and ranked among the team leaders in home runs, RBI, walks, on-base percentage and runs scored ... Amber Campbell earned 48 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 led the Rebel staff in wins, appearances, innings, complete games, strikeouts and ERA.
IN A PINCH: When the game was on the line, head coach Shan McDonald looked no further down the dugout than to sophomore Wendy Godwin. Coming off the bench to hit 25 times, Godwin delivered eight key hits, six of them in the seventh inning. Her last three helped the Rebels to overcome an opponent lead. In her most recent effort, Godwin singled with a runner at third in the bottom of the seventh to break a 1-1 tie against Colorado State and lead the Rebels to their fourth straight win. Against Utah, she entered the game in the sixth inning with the Rebels down 8-5 and the bases loaded. Facing an 0-2 count, she lifted the next pitch over the left centerfield fence for a grand slam, her first career home run. That shot came just one week after her sixth-inning double at New Mexico that 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. For the season, Godwin hit .296 (8-for-27) in pinch hitting situations.
PINCH 2: When it was a key run McDonald wanted, she called on freshman Jennie Whitman, who scored eight times and was a perfect 4-for-4 in stolen bases in 23 pinch running situations this year.
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.
A FEW GOOD WOMEN: To help replace the loss of four seniors, Shan McDonald signed four high school seniors to national letters of intent to play at UNLV in 2003. They are: catcher Britney Hillyer of Eagle Point, Ore., infielder Joanna Jackson of San Jose, Calif., catcher and utility fielder Carly Petracco from Boca Raton, Fla., and pitcher/first baseman Erin Sigala of Salinas, Calif. All four are expected to make an immediate contribution in 2003.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Six times this year UNLV claimed one of the Mountain West Conference's weekly awards, and two players have done so twice. Furthermore, senior pitcher Geney Orris became just the third player to earn the league's nod as top pitcher and top player in the same season. Aside from Orris, all three of the Rebels' other honorees were freshmen.
