May 12, 2005
Final Stats
SAN DIEGO - In game four of the Mountain West Conference Tournament in San Diego, Calif., UNLV (42-16) used two home runs and dominant pitching to move into Friday's game 8 set for 7 p.m. against the winner of the Colorado State/Utah 2 p.m. elimination game, at the SDSU Softball Stadium. The Rebels broke open a 1-1 tie with a third inning two-run home run and a solo shot in the fifth for the final 4-1 tally over San Diego State. Jacque Kerrigan won her 27th game of the season and ninth-consecutive, showing why the MWC's head coaches chose her as the league's pitcher of the year.
The No. 6 seed Aztecs earned the right to play the No. 2 seed Rebels with a 6-0 game two victory over No. 3 seed Colorado State earlier Thursday. With UNLV the higher seed, they were deemed the home team and improved its 2005 record over SDSU to 5-0 and tied its season-high winning streak at seven games.
The Rebels put the first run up on the board in the bottom of the first with help from an error by the Aztecs' second baseman on a Marissa Nichols' ground ball. Nichols made the error count by stealing her 34th base of the season. With one out, Brittany Meade walked to put two runners on the base paths. Maggie Livreri reached on a fielder's choice as Nichols was thrown out at third for the second out. Rosa Ordaz brought Meade home with an RBI-single up the middle and took second base on the throw to the plate. Ordaz's improved her season-high hitting streak to five games.
SDSU evened the score with a lead off solo home run to left field by Taryin Casillas in the top of the second inning.
Livreri put the Rebels up for good with a two-run blast over the left field fence. The home run was Livreri's ninth of the season, which placed her in a ninth-place tie in the UNLV all-time single-season home run list. Livreri's homer also gave the 2005 Rebels the all-time team record of most home runs in a single-season with their 44th on the year. Meade scored on the home run as she had reached on a fielder's choice. Livreri's home run ended Cori Janelli's (10-15) night in the circle, although she finished out the inning, but took the loss giving up three runs (two earned) and three hits.
After going up 3-1, Kerrigan retired the Aztecs 1-2-3 in the fourth and fifth innings and only allowed one hit and two base runners total between the sixth and seventh innings. The furthest any of those runners got was to second base with help from a sac bunt in the sixth. Kerrigan gave up four hits, struck out one and walked none. This was the 11th start this season for Kerrigan that she did not allow a walk. She is 11-0 in those contests.
Nichols added an insurance run in the fifth with a solo shot to center field. With a 3-2 count and the eighth pitch of the at-bat, Nichols cranked her 16th home run of the season and third of the year off of Celena Velasquez, who entered the game in the fourth inning.
SDSU attempted to rally in the sixth as Kristen Carranza was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a sac bunt. Following the second out, Casillas nearly pulled the Aztecs to within one with a long fly ball out to Nichols in left. The ball sailed to the warning track but was good enough for the third out.
In the seventh, SDSU got a single to center field by Megan McDonald. Jamie Burton entered the game as a pinch runner but was quickly sent back to the dugout with help from a 4-6-3 double play hit into by Allison Smith. Kerrigan got the third out, pinch hitter Amanda Beasley to fly out to Valerie Keeney in right.
Game Notes:
-UNLV is on a seven-game winning streak, which ties for the season-high. -The 2005 Rebels broke the all-time single-season team record in home runs (45). The 1995 squad held the record with 43.
-Nichols moved one home run shy of tying the all-time single-season high of 17. Livreri joined Caitlyn Paus for 9th on the all-time single-season home run chart.
-Nichols (85) is four hits away from taking the top spot on the all-time single-season hits list.
-Nichols improved to 34-for-34 in the stolen base department, going 1-for-1 tonight.
-With her home run tonight, Nichols tied Paus for second-place on the all-time single-season RBI chart and overtook Kim Rondina's 162 total bases amassed in 1995 with her 165th. The 165 total bases is a new all-time single-season record.
-Kerrigan moved into a fourth-place tie in the all-time single-season appearances with her 47th and into sixth-place in innings pitched with 239.2.
Mountain West Conference Tournament, Day One
Game one: #4 Utah def. #5 New Mexico, 1-0Game two: #6 SDSU def. #3 Colorado St., 6-0Game three: #1 BYU def. # Utah, 6-1.Game four: #2 UNLV def. #6 SDSU, 4-1.
