March 22, 2007
LAS VEGAS -
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Leading Off: The UNLV softball team went 3-1 this past weekend in the University of South Florida's Speedline Invitational and remain on the road for another weekend with a trip to Northern California. The Rebels will take their 23-13 record to Stockton, Calif., for the Pacific SFT Mini Tournament hosted by the Pacific Tigers. UNLV will play games at 10:00 am (Pacific) and 2:00 pm (Sacramento State) on Saturday. On Sunday, the Rebels will play back-to-back contests with a 10:00 am (Sacramento State) contest proceeding a noon affair (Pacific).
On Deck: After returning from Stockton, Calif., on Sunday, March 25, the Rebels will be off until April 5. The weekend of April 5-7 will witness the opening of Mountain West Conference play. Utah (5:00 pm) comes to Las Vegas for a pair of televised contests on the 5th, while BYU will play single contests on the 6th (7:00 pm) and 7th (2:00 pm).
Pacific SFT Mini Tournament Opponents:
Pacific Tigers ~ Overall: 16-10 ~ UNLV leads the all-time series 31-25-1, with the Rebels winning the last game, 6-5, on March 12, 2005. ~ The Tigers went 2-3 last weekend at the Judi Garman Classic in Fullerton, Calif. ~ They play a doubleheader against Saint Mary's (Calif) on Thursday.
Sacramento State Hornets ~ Overall: 8-13 ~ UNLV leads the all-time series 5-0, with the Rebels winning the last game, 3-0, on March 15, 2002. ~ The Hornets went 1-4 in their own Capital Classic in Sacramento, Calif. ~ On Tuesday, they defeated Kansas, 7-4, in Sacramento.
USF-Speedline Recaps: UNLV traveled to Tampa, Fla., this past weekend for the University of South Florida's Speedline Invitational. The Rebels had to adjust to a revised schedule to due to rains on Friday, March 16, but came out of Pool "C" unscathed. The Rebels defeated Kent State, 6-1, on Friday and then followed that with back-to-back wins Saturday over Long Island, 5-4 in 8 inns., and Rhode Island, 10-0 in 5 inns. UNLV was placed into the Championship Bracket with Bowling Green, USF and Boston. Unfortunately, UNLV dropped its semifinal contest to Bowling Green, 3-2, and were eliminated.
Against Kent State, Christie Robinson held the Golden Flashes off the scoreboard until the seventh when they struck for one run. The one run didn't hurt UNLV, as they had built up a six-run lead with help from a Kendall Fearn grand slam and single RBIs from Caitlyn Paus and Kelli Fangonilo.
Against Long Island, UNLV faced a 3-1 deficit heading into its final at-bat. The Rebels got two runs to push the game into extra innings. Jaci Hull hit a solo home run to pull within one and Sandy Nakamura hit a run-scoring single to plate Fangonilo to tie the game at 3-3. In the eighth, LIU scored one with help from the international tie-breaker, but UNLV tied things up on an RBI-single by Brittany Freight. Fangonilo came up and immediately put a ball in play that was misplayed by LIU's shortstop, which allowed for Freight to score the winning run.
Against Rhode Island, Robinson combined for a shutout with Casey Thompson. Robinson tossed 4.0 innings and allowed only one hit, while Thompson struck out the side in the fifth. The five-inning affair ended with UNLV holding a 10-0 advantage. The game was highlighted by two solo homers by Rosa Ordaz and a bases clearing slam by Laura Briones.
Against Bowling Green, UNLV trailed on three occasions in the game and were able to tie the score up on the first two, but couldn't even things up on the third. Trailing 1-0 in the first, Fangonilo reached on a bunt and took second on an errant throw to first. She wound up scoring from second on a wild pitch. Down 2-1, she hit a run-scoring single to plate Jaci Hull and tie the game at 2-2. BGSU took its third and final lead in the sixth with help from two hits and a Rebel error.
USF-Speedline Hitting: In the four-game set at the USF-Speedline Invitational, UNLV hit at a .312 clip with 34 hits in 109 at-bats. The team racked up five home runs and five doubles. The bats knocked home 20 RBI, while the runners scored 23 times. On the base paths, the Rebels were successful six of seven times.
The team had four hitters register batting averages above the .364 mark with Kelli Fangonilo's .583 figure leading the way. Jaci Hull hit an even .500, while Brittany Meade and Caitlyn Paus tied with identical .364 tallies.
Fangonilo and Hull tied for the team-lead in hits with seven. Fanognilo scattered two doubles and five singles to bring home five RBI. She even scored three runs. Hull had three doubles and one home run to go with three singles. She knocked in one RBI and scored five runs.
USF-Speedline Pitching: In the four-game set at the USF-Speedline Invitational, UNLV's hurlers went 3-1. The pitching staff held allowed four earned runs in 27.0 innings of work for an ERA of 1.04.
Christie Robinson led the team with a 2-0 mark in 15.0 innings of work. Robinson started three contests and gave up two earned runs on 13 hits, while striking out 11.
Heather Slettvet went 1-1 in 9.2 innings of work. Slettvet allowed two earned runs on nine hits, while striking out eight and walking two.
Highly Offensive Matter: Through six weeks of play, the Rebels are hitting at a .289 clip. The offense has scattered 274 hits, with 22 of them leaving the ballpark. The team has tallied 46 doubles and nine triples.
The Rebels have six players with 15 or more at-bats hitting above the .300 mark. Jaci Hull leads the Rebels with a .392 batting average from her leadoff position. Caitlyn Paus comes in second with her .337 tally. Brittany Freight sits third at .325, while Jenn Newman (.313), Kelli Fangonilo (.307) and Kendall Fearn (.301) round out four through six.
In the home run department, the team is carrying over the long ball skills that have been displayed over the past two seasons. In 2005, the Rebels smashed a school-record 50 home runs. Last season, the team came close to that mark with 44. Thus far, through 36 games the team has smashed 22.
The nine triples, thus far in 2007, have already surpassed the triple tally in 2006. The `06 squad only collected three three-baggers (all tallied by Brittany Bolinger), while this season's team has nearly hit double-digits. Hull, Bolinger and Jenn Newman sit tied for the team-lead with two triples, apiece.
One Hull Of A Player: After missing last season due to a medical redshirt, Jaci Hull is playing at the same pace that she began 2006, prior to her injury.
Overall, she leads the Rebels in hitting (.392), runs (28), hits (40), doubles (nine), walks (28) and on-base percentage (.523). She sits tied for the team-lead in triples (two). She is tied for second on the team in home runs (three), while sitting second in slugging percentage (.608).
She has done a good job as the lead off hitter. She has reached base at least once in 33 of 36 contests. Northwestern, Cal Poly and Texas are the only teams to keep her off the base paths.
She earned MWC Player of the Week honors for her efforts while she led the Rebels in hitting (.476), hits (10), doubles (two), walks (seven), on-base percentage (.607) and assists (16). She was second on the squad in runs (six), total bases (12), slugging (.571) and steals (two).
She has 14 multi-hit games and six multi-walk games. She has three multi-RBI games, which includes a three-RBI contest against California. She has seven multi-run scored games.
Poisonous Fang: Kelli Fangonilo is one of three Rebels to have started all 36 contests, thus far in 2007. Fangonilo was primarily used as the designated player the first 16 games, but since the Mississippi contest on Feb. 24, she has started 20 straight at second base.
Overall, she is hitting .307 with 31 hits (three doubles and one triple), 16 RBI and 21 runs. On the base paths she is 11-for-13.
Prior to picking up her glove in a start, she was hitting .268 with 11 hits (one double), six RBI and eight runs.
Since she moved into position #4, she is hitting.333 with 20 hits (two doubles and one triple), 10 RBI and 13 runs. The batting average ranks as the third-best during the stretch, while the 20 hits are the second-most, which has been helped by her last five contests. In those five games, she leads the team with a .563 batting average, nine hits and five RBI.
Through games one through 31, she was hitting at a .259 clip. With help from the hot streak over games 32 to 36, she has raised her overall batting average 48-points.
Picking Up Where She Left Off: In UNLV's 2005 magical season, Brittany Meade was named to the Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-West Region Second Team, Mountain West All-Conference Team and a player of the week (May 3).
Last season, Meade sat out the year with a redshirt and watched as UNLV went 26-37.
Through 36 games in this early 2007 season, Meade is hitting .276 with 27 hits in 98 at-bats. She is second in hits with 27, with seven of those going for a team-leading two bases. She has knocked in 14 RBI and scored 11 runs. She leads the team in hit-by-pitches with nearly one-third of the team's tally (19).
In a 10-game stretch from Feb. 23 (Penn State) through March 5 (Delaware State-1), she went on a 10-game hitting streak and hit at a .316 clip. She tallied 12 hits (two doubles), three RBI and three runs.
Fastball, Drop, Change & A Bat?: Through the first 26 games, Heather Slettvet had made 15 appearances in the circle and four unsuccessful trips to the batter's box.
Things changed for the right-handed pitcher on March 9, against Harvard, when she was turned into a hitting pitcher. She was responsible for UNLV's two hits and the game's only run, a solo home run to center in the second inning. She also pitched 6.0 scoreless innings for the win.
Since that night, including the Harvard game, she has gone 8-for-23 at the plate for a .348 batting average. Of those eight hits, half of them have gone for extra bases (three doubles and one home run). She has knocked in seven RBI and scored once. She has a slugging percentage of .609 and on -base of .348.
Against Fordham (March 13), she went 3-for-4 with four RBI.
Overall, she is hitting .296.
Senior(ita) Freight: Brittany Freight is the lone senior on the UNLV softball team this season. The elder classman is keeping up with the youngsters on the squad by sitting in a tie for third amongst the team in hitting percentage (.325). She has collected 25 hits with six of them going down for extra bases (five doubles and one triple).
She has an on-base percentage of .416, which has been helped by her 25 hits, nine walks and three hit-by-pitches. She has scored 13 runs, while knocking in six RBI.
Paus-ing While Pushing Play: Caitlyn Paus has had a resurgence at the plate over the past 14 games after going a stretch of not starting at her customary position of second base. In the 14-game time frame, Paus has been moved to right field and has seen her offensive numbers increase over the same time period. Paus, who was a 2005 Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-West Region First Team member and All-MWC honoree, has three more hits (15) in her last 42 at-bats than she did in her first 41 (13). At the start of the season, she was hitting at a .292 clip when she was starting at second, before she dropped to as low as .273 when she would enter as a pinch-hitter.
In the last 14 games, she has hit at a .410 clip with 15 hits in 42 at-bats. Her batting average is second only to Jaci Hull's .429 in that same stretch, while she leads the team in runs scored (13).
Overall, she is second on the team in batting average (.337) and second in runs (23). She has 28 hits with seven extra base hits (four doubles and three home runs).
Inside The Circle: Through six weeks of play and 36 total games, the UNLV pitching staff holds a 23-13 record. In 246.0 innings of work the staff has amassed an ERA of 2.65. The opposition is hitting .261 against UNLV, while collecting 246 hits.
Christie Robinson leads the staff with a 10-3 record, two saves and an ERA of 1.92. Robinson sits tops on the team in ERA, wins, innings pitched (83.2), appearances (23) and games started (14). She has allowed 23 earned runs to score on 86 hits. She has struck out 49 to walking 14.
Robinson has turned her efforts into winning two MWC Pitcher of the Week awards. She led off the season with the honor on Feb. 13 and followed that up on March 13.
Stephanie Bregante has struck out a team-high 69 opponents in 56.1 innings of work. Bregante sits at 6-5 in 19 appearances (eight starts). She holds nearly a 5-to-1 ratio of strikeouts to walks (19). She has given up 22 earned runs on 52 hits.
Heather Slettvet sits 6-4 with two saves. Slettvet has the second-lowest ERA at 2.67. She has made 22 appearances and nine starts. She has thrown 76.0 innings and allowed 29 earned runs on 67 hits. She is second on the team in strike outs with 64, while walking 29.
