May 3, 2006
LAS VEGAS -
Week Thirteen Release in PDF Format
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On Deck: UNLV closes out its regular season with two Mountain West Conference doubleheaders against Utah (May 5) and BYU (May 6) this weekend. These final four games are important for the seeding process for next week's MWC Softball Championship (May 11-13, Las Vegas). Utah and BYU are both in striking distance of first place, but could finish anywhere from first to third, while the Rebels can only finish fourth or fifth.
The Opponents:
Utah Utes (34-15, 10-4 MWC): The Utes come to Las Vegas following a home doubleheader sweep versus Utah Valley State on Wednesday. Utah is riding a six-game winning streak (prior to UVSU DH) and has won eight of its last 10.
~UNLV All-Time vs. UU: Rebels trail 32-23.
~Last meeting: March 31 in Salt Lake City - Utah 1, UNLV 0. ~Streaks: Utah has won two straight against UNLV.
BYU Cougars (36-18, 11-5 MWC): The Cougars travel to Las Vegas following a conference doubleheader at San Diego State on Friday. On Tuesday, BYU played a road game at neighboring Utah Valley State and suffered a 3-1 defeat to the Wolverines. In their last 10 games, the Cougars are 6-4.
~UNLV All-Time vs. BYU: UNLV trails 21-9.
~Last meeting: March 30 in Provo - BYU 9, UNLV 1 (6).
~Streaks: BYU has won the last four meetings against UNLV.
The Last Time Out: The Rebels went 2-2 last week by taking splits in doubleheaders at Cal State Fullerton and at home against #--/24 San Diego State. After losing six in a row to the Titans, UNLV took game one 8-3, before losing 5-1 in the nightcap. The Aztecs, who had just received their first top-25 ranking in the program's history, won game one by a 3-0 score, but dropped game two to UNLV 7-1. The game two loss was the first defeat SDSU has suffered in 13 overall games and 13 Mountain West Conference tilts.
In Fullerton, UNLV jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first, only to watch CSUF take a one-run lead (3-2) after two. The Rebels evened things up with a run in the third. The score remained the same until the top of the seventh. Two Titan errors allowed one run to score for a 4-3 lead and then a grand slam by Maggie Livreri opened the flood gates for the 8-3 win.
Game two went the way of the Titans early. A three-run home run and two back-to-back solo shots gave CSUF a 5-0 lead. A solo homer by Rosa Ordaz took the shutout away from the Titans' pitcher.
In Las Vegas, SDSU won game one 3-0, but not without some scares by UNLV's offense. The Rebels scattered 10 hits and left 11 runners stranded in the game, but failed to plate any. The Aztecs scored two in the first and added an insurance run late in the game.
In game two, the offense stayed just as proficient as it had in game one, but in this contest the team managed to score seven runs to the Aztecs' one. Brittany Bolinger came up big with two two-run home runs and scoring a total of three runs.
Blanketing The Competition: The Mountain West Conference announced today that UNLV's Christie Robinson was named this week's pitcher of the week. The honor is the second for the freshman from Clinton, Wash. Earlier in the season, she was named co-pitcher of the week on Feb. 14.
Robinson posted a 2-0 mark with a 2.00 ERA in 14.0 innings of work. On the road last week against Cal State Fullerton, she was touched for three runs in the second inning, but kept the Titans off the scoreboard for the remainder of the game in the 8-3 Rebel come back win. At home against conference-leading San Diego State, the 24th-ranked Aztecs could only muster a single run on a sacrifice fly as Robinson handed the Aztecs their first conference loss of the season.
On the year, she has a record of 8-11 and a 3.33 ERA. She has made 24 starts in the circle and 35 total appearances.
