Feb. 18, 2004
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STORYLINE: For the second straight week, Las Vegas will import many of the quality softball programs from around the country for a tournament. This week, UNLV hosts seven other schools in the simply named UNLV Tournament I. The tournament features 20 games over four days at two venues: Eller Media Stadium on the campus of UNLV, and Stephanie Lynn Craig Park in Henderson. Joining the Rebels in the tournament field are: Arkansas, Butler, Louisiana-Monroe, Michigan State, Northern Illinois, Northwestern State and UTEP.
ABOUT UNLV: Under first-year head coach Lonni Alameda, the Rebels return 12 letterwinners and nine starters from their 2003 squad. Offensively, Bridget Byrne (.379/0/2) leads the team in batting average, but Lisa Sampson (.303/0/2) has led the team in hitting in both of the last two seasons. Junior third-baseman Pauline Glenn (.160/1/2), an All-Mountain West Conference choice as a freshman, smacked the Rebels' only homer of the year and is tied for the team lead with two RBI. Defensively, junior pitcher Jacqueline Kerrigan (3-6, 1.30) was an all-conference selection last year and leads the Rebels in the circle with all three wins and 46 strikeouts.
HEAD COACH Lonni Alameda: The UNLV softball team has a new face in the dugout this year as Lonni Alameda is in her first season as the Rebels' head coach. Alameda came to Las Vegas from Stanford University, where she oversaw the Cardinal pitching staff and helped coach the team to six straight NCAA Regional appearances. A two-sport star at the University of Oklahoma, Alameda was a two-time All-Big Eight infielder and hit .359 as a senior in 1992. She earned her first career victory in a 3-2 eight-inning decision over New Mexico on Feb. 6.
ABOUT NORTHERN ILLINOIS: Northern Illinois carries a 3-3 mark into this tournament play ... The Huskies opened play at the Metrodome Softball Classic in Minneapolis, defeating Minnesota and losing to Drake before splitting doubleheaders with both Western Illinois and Wisconsin-Green Bay ... NIU finished 23-21-1 last season and placed third in the West Division of the Mid-American Conference ... UNLV has met Northern Illinois on the softball diamond just once before - at the 1996 NCAA Regional in Iowa City, Iowa. NIU topped the Rebels 3-1 in UNLV's last postseason game.
ABOUT ARKANSAS: Arkansas opened its season at the Florida Tournament two weeks ago, posting a 1-4 record, but has sat idle now for two weeks after getting rained out in Atlanta last weekend ... The Lady Razorbacks are coming off a 24-36 record in 2003 ... Friday's meeting will be the first between the two schools ... Former UNLV standout Linda Garza is now an assistant coach on the Arkansas staff.
ABOUT UTEP: First-year program Texas-El Paso has just two games under its belt, both wins over Sul Ross State ... Renee DiPuccio, a freshman from Las Vegas, tossed a no-hitter in the Miners' 9-1 victory ... UTEP will face Texas Tech in a doubleheader before arriving in Vegas ... UTEP boasts three Las Vegans on its roster: DiPuccio, Lindsey Pridgen and Megan Whiteaker.
ABOUT MICHIGAN STATE: Michigan State carries an even 2-2 mark into Las Vegas after posting wins over Jacksonville and South Florida and falling to Florida and Seton Hall at the USF Wilson Tournament last weekend ... The Spartans are currently ranked 30th nationally ... UNLV has never met MSU in softball ... Saturday's game will be a homecoming for Spartan junior outfielder Victoria Morache, who was a standout player at Las Vegas Cimarron-Memorial High School.
ABOUT LOUISIANA-MONROE: Louisiana-Monroe comes into Las Vegas with a 3-7 mark after posting a 1-3 record at the University of Houston Tournament last weekend ... The Indians were 19-29 last season, including a two-game split with the Rebels, the first-ever meetings between the two schools.
RANKED OPPONENTS: Just two weeks into the season and UNLV has already gotten its share of ranked opponents. Through 10 games, the Rebels have faced three opponents ranked in the NFCA Top 25 and three others that received votes at some point during the year. All in all, the Rebels are scheduled to face 11 different opponents that received votes in the NFCA poll.
DATE OPPONENT RESULT CURRENT RANKING Feb. 6 Cal State Northridge L, 7-1 31 Feb. 7 #2 Arizona L, 10-1 2 Feb. 8 Cal State Northridge L, 3-1 31 Feb. 13 #35 Hawaii W, 1-0 NR Feb. 13 #3 California L, 12-0 3 Feb. 14 #10 Michigan L, 2-1 10 Feb. 14 #35 Notre Dame L, 3-1 NR
WEEKLY WINNER: It took just one week for Rebel ace Jacqueline Kerrigan to earn her first Mountain West Conference Pitcher of the Week award. In the first week of the year, Kerrigan was cited by the conference for posting a 2-2 record and striking out 27 batters in four games at the Pepsi Arizona Tournament in Tucson, Ariz. It was the fourth time in her career that the Rebels' junior pitcher had been so honored.
CAREER PITCHING LEADERS: The Rebels have two players that are weeding their way through the school's career pitching leaders lists. Senior Kacey Ellis and junior Jacqueline Kerrigan both already rank among the school's leaders in appearances. Ellis needs just five more wins to move past Tanya Edwards for 10th place on the school's all-time list, and sixth-winningest pitcher in school history by percentage. Kerrigan ranks in the pack in appearances, starts, complete games, innings pitched, wins, losses, saves, shutouts, ERA and strikeouts. Perhaps most impressive in her strikeout total, which currently sits at 312 and ranks her fifth in school history. She needs just 10 more to move past Teresa Branch on the all-time list and trails leader Lori Harrigan by 413. She is on pace to finish second in school history.
PRESEASON POLLS: While UNLV did not rank in the Top 25 poll, the Rebels did check in at No. 5 in the Mountain West Conference Preseason Coaches Poll announced Jan. 22. With 23 points and four first-place votes, San Diego State was chosen as a slight favorite to win its third straight league title over Colorado State, which scored 21 points and the other two first-place votes. Rounding out the poll were BYU (18), Utah (13), UNLV (9) and New Mexico (6).
ON DECK: Following the UNLV Tournament I, the Rebels will stay at home for tournament play again. In the smallest of the four tourneys hosted by UNLV this year, Simon Fraser and Utah Valley State College come to town for the Rebel Spring Tournament. Each team will play all other opponents once daily on both Saturday, Feb. 28 and Sunday, Feb. 29.
