Feb. 12, 2009
LAS VEGAS -
Week Two Release in PDF Format 
Leading Off: After beginning the season on a successful, but rainy note, the UNLV Rebels will host their second tournament in as many weekends. On tap for Feb. 12-15, is the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic. The Classic will feature 21 teams playing over a four days at two different venues.
All of UNLV's games will be played at Eller Media Stadium beginning with games against Southern Miss (3:45 pm) and UCLA (6:00 pm) on Friday, Feb. 13. The Rebels will play a single game on Saturday, Feb. 14 (6:00 pm) vs. Saint Louis. UNLV will play a pair on the Classic's final day (Sunday, Feb. 15) with contests against Kentucky (1:30 pm) and Nevada, Reno (3:45 pm).
On Deck: After hosting the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic, UNLV will hit the road for the first time in 2009, but the destination is an all too familiar one. The Rebels will be making their fifth consecutive appearance in Cathedral City, Calif., at Oregon State's Cathedral City Classic (formerly named the Palm Springs Classic).
The Classic runs Feb. 19-22, but will only feature the Rebels in the final three days of the extravaganza. UNLV will play back-to-back games against Nebraska (3:30 pm) and Georgia Tech (6:00 pm) on Friday, Feb. 20. The team is scheduled for a single game on Saturday, Feb. 21, where they will face Florida at 10:30 am. On Sunday, Feb. 22, Long Island (11:00 am) and Cal Poly (1:00 pm) close out UNLV's slate of games in the Golden State.
Rebels Sweep Honors: For the third consecutive year, UNLV won week one's Mountain West Conference Player and Pitcher of the Week honors. Alyssia De La Torre, a junior outfielder from Las Vegas, and Traci Odegard, a sophomore left-handed pitcher from Kirkland, Wash., were selected after their stellar outings this past weekend in helping UNLV to a 3-1 showing in the 2009 Sportco Kick-Off Classic. This is the first time that either have been chosen for the conference's weekly award.
De La Torre hit .538 with seven hits in 13 at-bats. She racked up a 1.231 slugging percentage, aided by four extra-base hits. In the four-game opening weekend, she smashed two home runs, one triple and one double. She scored six times from her leadoff position and knocked in four RBI. On Friday, De La Torre went 3-for-3 vs. Marshall, scoring the first run of the game after leading off with a single. In the following game, vs. Illinois-Chicago, she smashed a leadoff home run and followed that up with another solo shot in the fourth inning, while racking up two runs and two RBI. In a doubleheader vs. Seton Hall on Sunday, she hit .333 with one triple, two walks and one RBI.
Odegard earned two wins in as many starts over the weekend. The sophomore southpaw tossed two complete games and did not allow a single run in either outing. She surrendered only five hits and struck out 13 batters, walking none. Odegard only allowed one runner in each contest to get as far as third base. In a 5.0 inning outing vs. Marshall, she gave up two hits and fanned four, as the Rebels won, 8-0. Against Seton Hall, she gave up three hits in 6.0 innings, while racking up a career-high nine strikeouts to lead UNLV to another 8-0 victory.
De La Torre and Odegard join duos from 2007 (Kendall Fearn and Christie Robinson) and 2008 (Jaci Hull and Stephanie Bregante) in helping UNLV sew up first week honors over the past three seasons. The UNLV Rebels went 3-1 in the rain-shortened Sportco Kick-Off Classic this past weekend.
Weekend Recap: UNLV went 2-0 on Friday, Feb. 6, with wins over Marshall (3-0 in five innings) and Illinois-Chicago (7-5 in seven).
Inclement weather rolled into the Las Vegas Valley on Saturday morning and washed away the day's competition. UNLV and Seton Hall started their game at 9:00 am, that morning only to see one batter step up to the plate before rain put a damper on the day's games.
The Classic concluded on Sunday with the resumption of the UNLV-SHU tilt. After 4.5 scoreless innings, the Rebel offense exploded for six runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth to invoke the run-rule.
UNLV and Seton Hall played another game following the 8-0 victory by the Rebels. Unfortunately, SHU's offense came to life in its second showing against the Rebels, while the home squad's defense provided five errors in a 13-7 loss.
