April 6, 2010

LAS VEGAS - UNLV senior outfielder Marissa Nichols was named the Mountain West Conference's Co-Softball Player of the Week today sharing the honor with Utah senior outfielder Kara Foster. This is the seventh time that Nichols has been recognized for the weekly honor, as she earned it a league-best six times during her All-America freshman campaign in 2005.

Nichols, a Diamond Bar, Calif., product, batted .667 (8-for-12) with one home run, three doubles, one triple, four RBI and five runs scored, as the Rebels went a perfect 3-0 at the BYU Pre-Conference Tournament in St. George, Utah. She also tallied 1.333 slugging and .692 on-base percentages on the week. She began the tournament by sparking UNLV's come-from-behind, extra-inning win over Idaho State (9-8). She belted a three-run triple, then scored a run of her own as UNLV scored seven runs in the bottom of the eighth for the victory. For the game, she went 2-for-5 with one triple, one double, three RBI and one run scored. In the Rebels second game vs. the Bengals, she went 3-for-3 with two doubles and three runs scored in a 19-4, five-inning win. In a 6-4 win over Cal State Bakersfield, she hit a solo homer as part of a 3-for-4 performance, while adding three runs.

On the year, Nichols leads the Rebels in batting average (.426), hits (46), doubles (16), home runs (9), total bases (93), slugging percentage (.861) and hit-by-pitch (4), while tying for the top spot in RBI (28).

Nichols and her teammates are back in action at home this weekend after spending the past four weeks on the road. UNLV opens up MWC action at Eller Media Stadium with visits by Colorado State and New Mexico. CSU comes to town on Friday, April 9 with a 6:00 pm contest, while UNLV and New Mexico square off at 1:00 pm on Saturday and Sunday.