April 7, 2010
LAS VEGAS -
Week Nine Release in PDF Format 
LEADING OFF: After spending the past month on the road, the UNLV Rebels return to the friendly confines of Eller Media Stadium this weekend (April 9-11) to open up Mountain West Conference play.
UNLV will kick off MWC action at home for the second consecutive season and seventh time overall in 11 years.
The Rebels will welcome Colorado State to Las Vegas for a 6:00 pm contest on Friday night.
New Mexico comes to town for single games on Saturday and Sunday with both starting at 1:00 pm.
GameTracker links can be found on UNLV's official website, www.UNLVRebels.com.
Game Day Promotions: Friday, April 9: $1 tickets for the conference home opener.
Saturday, April 10: First 150 kids receive free wristbands.
Sunday, April 11: First 150 kids receive free wristbands.
ON DECK: The UNLV Rebels stay home for its second straight week with a single MWC contest on Saturday, April 17 (1:00 pm) against the San Diego State Aztecs.
CONFERENCE OPENERS: The UNLV Rebels own a record of 13-12 overall dating back to 1985 in conference openers. UNLV has begun its league season at home on 17 occasions and in those 25 years they sit 10-7.
Since joining the Mountain West Conference for the 1999-2000 season, UNLV owns a 4-6 overall mark in those first games, while going 2-4 at home.
LOOKING BACK A WEEK: The UNLV Rebels went 3-0 last weekend in its fourth straight week away from Las Vegas. UNLV participated in its seventh tournament of the season and fourth in a neutral location.
At the BYU Pre-Conference Tournament in St. George, Utah, the Rebels defeated the Idaho State Bengals twice and the Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners once.
The Rebels needed extra-innings to take care of ISU in the first go-round, as the Bengals tied things up in the seventh inning at 2-2. ISU then reeled off six runs forcing UNLV to rally from a 7-2 deficit. The Rebels did just that and won by a n 8-7 margin.
The second encounter with ISU was much easier for UNLV, as they ran away with a 19-4 win in five innings of work. The Rebels owned a 7-2 lead before sending 18 batters to the plate in a 12-run fifth inning, which sealed the contest.
In the tournament finale, UNLV squared off with Cal State Bakersfield for the second time this season. This affair was much closer than the initial 17-1 meeting on Feb. 12, as the Rebels won by a 6-4 margin. UNLV used the long ball to claim the contest with five total home runs hit between four players. Jaci Hull cranked out two dingers that helped move her into a first-place tie for the program's all-time home run lead.
Offensively, UNLV hit .396 as a team with nine players batting above the .300 mark. Marissa Nichols led the team in hitting (.667) with highs in runs (5), hits (8), doubles (3), RBI (4), total bases (16) and slugging (1.333).
In the circle, Kylie Wagner went 2-0 with both wins coming against Idaho State, while Traci Odegard was 1-0 with a victory over Cal State Bakersfield. Jessica O'Connor picked up her second save of the season in relief of Odegard in the CSUB contest.
ADD THEM TO THE RECORDS: Alyssia De La Torre and Jaci Hull added their names to two single-game records this past weekend. De La Torre became the seventh Rebel to amass four runs in a contest, as she did so against Idaho State (April 3).
Hull, on the other hand, hit two home runs in a game (Cal State Bakersfield, April 3) for the third time in her career. This was the 19th occurrence of a Rebel achieving this feat.
NICHOLS GARNERS AWARD: UNLV senior outfielder Marissa Nichols was named the Mountain West Conference's Co-Softball Player of the Week Tuesday (April 6) 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).
