April 12, 2009

Final Stats

LAS VEGAS - The UNLV Rebels (25-14 overall, 2-3 Mountain West) scored early and often in their 12-4, six-inning victory over the Colorado State Rams (18-20, 2-3) on Sunday afternoon at Eller Media Stadium. The Rebels pushed out to a nine-run lead through the first two frames and never looked back. The offense racked up 16 hits with six individuals collecting multiple-hit outings.

Marissa Nichols and Jaci Hull were top guns for UNLV on the day, as they each tallied three base-knocks in the contest. Kendall Fearn, Laura Briones, Elena Fata and Korin Cuico pitched in a pair of hits each.

Hull registered five RBI on the day, while Fearn had three and Briones had a pair.

The Rebels got things going quickly with four runs off of five hits in the first inning. Nichols began the offensive with a lead-off double to center before taking third on a bunt-single by Alyssia De La Torre. Hull put UNLV up 1-0 with an RBI-single through the right side that scored Nichols and moved De La Torre to third. Fearn plated De La Torre and Hull with a double to deep center to increase the lead to 3-0.

Fearn's double spelled the end of Rebecca Penland's (1-5) day in the circle, as Danielle Chaplin was beckoned from the bullpen. Chaplin quickly got two batters out, but allowed a run-scoring single to Fata to close out the four-run first inning.

Nichols opened up the second inning with a duplication of her first-inning at-bat, as she smashed her second double of the day to center. Following a walk to De La Torre, Hull cranked a three-run blast to left to extend the lead to 7-0. Fearn followed with a single and became the last batter face for a CSU pitcher for the second time, as the Rams' brought Kelli Eubanks into the game to throw. Briones' welcomed Eubanks to the game with a two-run shot to right-center.

The Rams scored four unanswered runs to pull within 9-4 with a single score in the third and a trio in the fifth. CSU got its first run in the third off a throwing error committed by UNLV. The Rams added three in the fifth off of a three-run shot off the bat of Ashley Munoz and closed out Traci Odegard's (9-5) start in the circle.

UNLV answered back with two tallies in the bottom of the fifth for a seven-run cushion at 11-4. Cuico opened up the inning with a walk and took second on a single by Nichols. Hull then delivered a run-scoring single to score Cuico and move Nichols to third. Kim Klabough wound up getting summoned from the bench to relieve Eubanks in the circle, but allowed Tara Bendt, who was pinch-running for Nichols, to score off a ground out by Fearn.

The Rebels ended the game in the sixth with one run to invoke the eight-run rule. Bolinger opened up the inning with a double and moved around the bases on singles by Fata and Cuico.

Odegard picked up the win for UNLV in 4.1 innings of work. She allowed four runs, three earned, on eight hits. She fanned two and walked one.

Jessica O'Connor tossed the final 1.2 frames for the Rebels and gave up only one hit, while striking out one.

Penland was stuck with the loss, as she was unable to work herself out of the first inning. She allowed four runs on four hits.

The CSU relievers threw 5.0 innings. They were touched for eight runs on 12 hits. They struck out six and walked three.

UNLV hits the road this week for three games in the Beehive State. The Rebels will face Utah in Salt Lake City on Thursday (3:00 pm PT) afternoon in a game to be aired live on CBS College Sports. UNLV will then play two games in Provo against BYU. Friday's game is set for a 6:00 pm PT first pitch, while Saturday's is slated for 1:00 pm PT and will be aired live on BYU-TV.