April 14, 2004
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STORYLINE: The UNLV softball team (21-25, 4-4) embarks upon a three-game road swing through southern California this week with a non-conference matchup at UC Riverside (11-34) on Thursday, April 15, before an important Mountain West Conference doubleheader at San Diego State (27-18, 6-2) on Friday, April 16 ... The Rebels fell out of the lead in the MWC race with a pair of losses against Colorado State last Sunday, but could reassume the command role with a sweep of the Aztecs ... This three-game swing marks the start of a seven-game road stretch, which will include twin bills at New Mexico and Colorado State next week ... UNLV needs just one victory to post its 600th win as a program. All-time, the Rebels are 599-621-2 in their 23rd year.
ABOUT UNLV: Under first-year head coach Lonni Alameda, the Rebels return 12 letterwinners and nine starters from their 2003 squad. Offensively, the Rebels are led in hitting by senior left fielder Bridget Byrne (.432/0/11), although senior Lisa Sampson (.297/0/18) has led the squad in hitting each of the last three years ... Junior third-baseman Pauline Glenn (.223/3/17), an All-Mountain West Conference choice as a freshman, leads the unit with three homers, while senior Kacey Ellis (.286/1/26) paces the squad in RBI. Defensively, junior pitcher Jacqueline Kerrigan (17-15, 1.84) was an all-conference selection last year and leads the Rebels in the circle with 17 wins and 185 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.
REBELS ON THE WEB: All UNLV softball up-to-the-minute information, including team roster and bios, season schedule and results, and game and season statistics, is available on the school's Official Athletics Site, www.unlvrebels.com. A member of the Official College Sports Network, unlvrebels.com utilizes Gametracker, the state-of-the-art software to support live internet scoring. Through Gametracker, fans can follow Rebel softball action pitch-by-pitch from around the globe. For a complete schedule, log on to unlvrebels.com.
REBELS ON THE AIR: UNLV head coach Lonni Alameda can be heard every Monday at 8:00 p.m. PT on the Rebel Softball Update on KDWN AM 720 Talk Radio. Along with host and former UNLV football coach Harvey Hyde, Alameda will spend a segment talking Rebel softball, including recapping the team's play the weekend before and scouting the squad's upcoming opponents.
ABOUT UC RIVERSIDE: UC Riverside has won one of its last 11 games, taking the first of a three-game series with Cal Poly last Friday, and owns a 11-34 record on the year ... First-year head coach Connie Miner has a career record of 362-443-1 ... The Highlanders are led in hitting by Melissa Sanchez (.351/4/27) and in pitching by Kimberly Dillon (6-12, 5.21) ... UCR was one of the 15 teams competing at the UNLV Softball Classic in February ... The Highlanders won the last two meetings between the two schools at Eller Media Stadium last year, cutting the Rebels lead in the all-time series to 12-5 ... UNLV has won the last three games in Riverside, Calif., including back-to-back shutouts by Jacqueline Kerrigan and Becky McDonald last season.
ABOUT SAN DIEGO STATE: The two-time regular season MWC champion, San Diego State is again in first place in the league with a 6-2 record ... The Aztecs swept all four games at home last weekend against New Mexico and Colorado State after splitting on the road at BYU and Utah ... SDSU is in the midst of a 13-game MWC home winning streak ... Head coach Kathy Van Wyk is 261-202-1 in her eighth season at SDSU ... The Aztecs are led in hitting by Meagan Hartung (.374/1/6) and in pitching by Celena Velasquez (11-4, 1.39) ... SDSU took three of the four meetings between the two last year to improve to 27-27 in the series ... SDSU swept in San Diego on April 12, winning both games in extra innings as the Rebels lost starter Jacqueline Kerrigan to a broken nose ... Kerrigan returned to action two weeks later at home and shut out SDSU, ending its 13-game winning streak.
KERRIGAN ALMOST THROWS NO-NO: UNLV junior Jacqueline Kerrigan almost turned one of the most special feats in the game. The Eugene, Ore., native carried a no-hitter against Utah Valley State into the seventh inning, but was disappointed when the Wolverines' Jamie Hendricks dropped a base hit into shallow centerfield with two outs. Kerrigan struck out the next batter to record the complete-game shutout and finish her second career one-hitter. The game came one day on the heels of another no-hit bid by the Rebels' ace - she held top-ranked NAIA power Simon Fraser hitless until the fifth inning, but left the game after the suspense was broken and the Rebels ahead 7-0.
WEEKLY WINNERS: 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.
On March 16, the Rebels claimed their second conference award as senior outfielder Bridget Byrne earned the league's Player of the Week honor after hitting .632 in five games. It was the first-ever award in the Las Vegas native's career. Byrne hit safely in each game, scored in all but one of them, and belted her first career triple in leading the Rebels to a 4-1 record for the week.
CAREER PITCHING LEADERS, PART ONE: Senior Kacey Ellis continues to make her mark on the UNLV record books. The Brentwood, Tenn., native already ranks ninth all-time with 92 appearances and ninth with a .460 (23-27) career winning percentage. With 23 career victories, she needs just three more to move past Brandi Isgar for 10th place on the school's all-time list. Her three career saves rank her fifth in the school's history.
CAREER PITCHING LEADERS, PART TWO: Ellis isn't the only active pitcher working her way through the record books. Junior Jacqueline Kerrigan has already scribbled her name throughout the career marks, ranking 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 451 and ranks her third in school history. She needs just 42 more to move past Amie Stewart, and trails leader Lori Harrigan by 289. She is on pace to finish second in school history behind Harrigan.
YEAR OF THE WORKHORSE: Kerrigan's career numbers are pretty staggering for a player in her junior year, and they have been significantly bolstered by the frequency of her play this season. Kerrigan has thrown almost 70 percent of the team's innings this year. Her 185 strikeouts on the year -- a career high -- already rank as the fourth-best single season total in school history. She needs just 39 more strikeouts this year to break Lori Harrigan's 1991 record of 223.
LEADING OFF BY EXAMPLE: The Rebels are undoubtedly gracious for the leadoff play of senior Bridget Byrne. The Rebels' leadoff hitter is having a career year. She has already eclipsed her personal best totals for hits in a season and has nearly doubled her batting average from a year ago. Through 46 games, the Rebels' left fielder has collected 64 hits in 148 at bats for an amazing .432 average. She is within striking distance of the school record of .445 set by Kim Rondina in 1997. Byrne leads the Mountain West Conference in hits and ranks second in the league in batting average. An honor student from Las Vegas, Byrne has not missed a start in left field in three years, a span of 170 games.
MY BIG FAT GREEK OLYMPIC TEAM TRYOUT: The Rebels were without the services of starting third baseman Pauline Glenn in the team's doubleheader at Arizona. The Tucson, Ariz., native is a member of the Greek National Team and spent the week of March 22-29 participating in a workout with the team in preparation for the upcoming Summer Olympic Games. A third-generation Greek descendent, Glenn has been working out with the Greek Team since last summer. If she is chosen for the Greeks' final Olympic roster, she would join Lori Harrigan as Rebels competing in the Olympic Games.
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 this week's swing through southern California, the Rebels go back on the road two league doubleheaders. The Rebels head to Fort Collins, Colo., to face Colorado State on Friday, April 23, before continuing on to Albuquerque, N.M., to challenge New Mexico on Sunday, April 25.
