March 1, 2006
LAS VEGAS -
Week Four Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
On Deck: UNLV comes back to the friendly confines of Eller Media Stadium this weekend following its 2-3 outing in the Palm Springs Classic held in Cathedral City, Calif., at the Big League Dreams Sports Complex. The Rebels host their final home tournament of the season with the UNLV Invitational on tap beginning March 2nd and running through the 5th. Coming to Las Vegas will be: Nevada, Reno; Portland State; Arizona State; Virginia Tech and Southern Utah. The Chinese National Team is making a stop and will play some "friendlies" against the five visiting squads. UNLV played its "friendly" in the fall against Canada.
The Opponents: Nevada, Reno Wolf Pack (7-8): UNLV All-Time vs. UNR: Rebels lead 10-1. The Wolf Pack comes to Las Vegas following a 3-1 showing at the USD Invitational in San Diego, Calif. UNR lost its final game to the host USD Toreros, but won three previous over Utah State, UC Riverside and USD.
Portland State Vikings (5-5): UNLV All-Time vs. PSU: Rebels lead 3-2. The Vikings return to Las Vegas two weeks separated from their 5-0 record in the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic. PSU began the year 0-5 before reeling off five straight against UTEP, Utah State, UC Davis, Purdue and Illinois. The Vikings did not play any games last weekend.
#13/12 Arizona State Sun Devils (15-0, prior to DH at SUU): UNLV All-Time vs. ASU: Sun Devils lead 12-4. The Sun Devils are riding one of the longest winning streaks heading into the Invitational. Prior to their trip to Las Vegas, ASU will play a doubleheader at Southern Utah. The Sun Devils were only able to get two games in at the NFCA Leadoff Classic last weekend due to rains.
Virginia Tech Hokies (9-0, prior to DH with Radford): This is the first meeting between the Rebels and Hokies. The Hokies travel come to Vegas after they play two against Radford on Wednesday. Virginia Tech brings an 8-0 mark to the desert after its 4-0 run through the Myrtle Beach Chevy Chanticleer Classic. The Hokies are on the outside of the Top 25 looking in as they are receiving votes.
Southern Utah Thunderbirds (1-10, prior to DH with ASU): UNLV All-Time vs. SUU: Rebels lead 24-5. The Thunderbirds come to Las Vegas following their Thursday doubleheader with Arizona State. SUU went 0-4 on the road last week with two losses to each Long Beach State and Cal State Northridge. This will be the third visit to Vegas for the T-birds this season.
The Last Time Out: Last weekend in the Palm Springs Classic, the Rebels defeated both"OSU" schools that they faced, but lost three contests to Big 12 squads from Texas. On Friday, UNLV defeated Oklahoma State 3-1, but fell to Texas Tech 5-0. On Saturday, #8/8 Texas A&M and #4/4 Texas were on the docket. In game one, UNLV held a 3-2 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh, but a three-run walkoff homer gave the Aggies a 5-3 win. In the second game, Texas put four runs on the board between the first and second innings and held on for a 4-0 victory. In the finale for the Rebels, UNLV put four runs on the board in the fourth inning against Ohio State to give the team a 2-3 record in the Classic and 8-8 overall on the year.
Through Sixteen Through the first 16 games, the Rebels are hitting .249. Jaci Hull, who is expected back from a broken hand in a month, tops the teamwith a .400 batting average. Marissa Nichols follows with a .373 BA. Shannon Crisp is the third Rebel above the .300 barrier with a .317 average.
Nichols leads the team with 19 hits and is tied for the team-lead with nine runs scored. Livreri and Crisp are tied for the team-high in doubles with four apiece. Hull has cranked three home runs to top the category.
Livreri has knocked in 12 RBI, while Ordaz sits one back with 11.
On the base paths, Nichols is 10-for-13. Bolinger is 3-for-4. Brittany Freight is 3-for-3.
Last Weekend, Offensively: In Palm Springs, two Rebels graced the batter's box with +.300 batting averages. Brittany Freight led the way with a .333 BA and Shannon Crisp followed at .308. Freight collected five hits in 15 at bats, while Crisp was 4-for-13.
Freight scored three runs and snagged three bases. Crisp cranked a double and a homer, while scoring once and plating two.
Against Ohio State, Crisp put UNLV up for good with a two-out two-run homer to deep left. UNLV lead 2-0 on the shot and added two more in the same inning for the final 4-0 tally.
Last Weekend, Pitching: In Palm Springs, Christie Robinson went 1-0 and held an ERA of 0.89. She got four starts and made five appearances. In 15.2 innings of work she allowed only two earned runs (7 total runs) on 15 hits. She struck out 14, while walking only three.
Not Backing Down: While many teams are merely collecting wins against lesser opponents, UNLV isn't shying away from the toughest competition. The Rebels sit at .500 with an 8-8 record. Six of those eight losses have come to programs ranked 14th or higher. UNLV was in four of the six contests as they lost by two runs to Oklahoma, Washington, Northwestern and Texas A&M. The NU and TAMU games came down to the oppositions' final at bat.
Making History: Marissa Nichols and Brittany Bolinger will go down in the NCAA record books after their second at bats against Texas' Cat Osterman in Palm Springs. The all-everything Longhorn pitcher struck out Nichols to tie Courtney Blades's (Southern Miss/Nicholls State) record of most career strikeouts. Bolinger followed and K'd to give Osterman sole ownership of the record.
Osterman left the game with a 4-0 lead through three and gave way to a reliever to collect the win. In the nine outs recorded by Osterman, she sent seven back to the dugout with three strikes.
The Rebels can't feel too bad about their outing versus Osterman. In the final game of the Classic, she struck out 18 in a win over then-#1/1 Arizona.
Walking Around: Thus far in 2006, the Rebels have collected 63 walks. The program record for a single-season is 201. If the `06 squad stays on its current pace of nearly four per game the record will be broken.
Leading the way is Maggie Livreri's 11 free trips to first. Livreri lead the team last year with 29 walks, which was good enough for fifth on the all-time single-season Rebel charts. Caitlyn Paus and Brittany Bolinger are tied for second with eight apiece, while Marissa Nichols has seven (including two IBBs given by Kansas).
