Feb. 20, 2009
Final Stats
Cathedral City, Calif. - The UNLV Rebels (6-5) turned their fortunes around against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (6-3) Friday evening at Big League Dreams in Cathedral City, Calif., with a 4-3 win. UNLV snapped its three-game losing streak with the victory, while Traci Odegard (3-3) got back on the winning side of the ledger with her complete-game effort in the circle. The contest was a see-saw affair that witnessed UNLV take three leads and Georgia Tech tie them up twice.
UNLV broke open the scoreless game with a run in the top of the fourth. Marissa Nichols began the frame with a double to deep center and was then pushed to third on a sacrifice bunt by Kendall Fearn. Jaci Hull then delivered a double to right-center to bring Nichols home for the first run of the game.
Georgia Tech answered back with a questionable home run by Tiffany Johnson in the bottom of the fourth. Johnson stepped up and delivered a shot down the left-field line, but apparently squeeked inside the foul pole although landing well into foul territory. Prior to Johnson's homer, Odegard had given up a double and a single earlier in the inning, but saw a runner's interference and a runner caught stealing to equal two outs.
UNLV took a 3-1 lead in the sixth with help from two Georgia Tech errors. Elena Fata came to the plate with the bases loaded and hit a grounder to the hole at short. Kelsi Weseman went to field the ball, but instead let the ball roll past her into left for her second error of the inning and third of the game. Hull and Laura Briones wound up scoring on the play.
The Yellow Jackets knotted the score at 3-3. With runners in scoring position, Jen Yee moved the runners up 60 feet, which plated her squad's first run of the inning. An illegal pitch was then called with Johnson at the plate. Kelly Eppinger was awarded home plate on the call to tie the game.
The Rebels took control of the game in the seventh. Brittany Bolinger dropped a perfect bunt that stopped in front of home for a single. Bolinger wound up being the game's winning run, as she moved around the bases with help from a sacrifice bunt by Nichols and then back-to-back singles by Fearn and Hull. Hull's single through the right side was all the Rebels needed for the win.
Odegard went the distance for UNLV in earning the win. She allowed three runs, one earned, on eight hits. She struck out five and walked two.
Kristen Adkins was saddled with the loss, as she dropped to 4-1 on the year. Adkins was touched for four runs, two earned, on seven hits. She fanned five and walked four.
UNLV is back in action on Saturday morning, as they face the #2/2 Florida Gators in the Cathedral City Classic.
