May 18, 2010
LAS VEGAS - The UNLV Rebels ended the 2010 regular season on a strong note with a 3-0 finish on the road in conference action. The team's quality of play did not go unnoticed as Laura Briones and Jessica O'Connor were recognized as the Mountain West Conference's Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively. This is the first career honor for Briones, while O'Connor has been recognized twice, both coming this season.
In the 11-year history of the conference a pitcher and catcher from the same team earned the weekly honors in the same time frame only on five occasions. Coincidentally, this is the third time that UNLV has achieved the honor. On April 19, 2005, Maggie Livreri (catcher) and Jacque Kerrigan (pitcher) took home both awards. The first such instance in school and conference history came on Feb. 27, 2001, when Samantha Kimura (catcher) and Geney Orris (pitcher) achieved the feat.
Coming off of the heels of making the 2010 MWC All-Conference Team, Briones (San Bernardino, Calif.) helped the Rebels in a big way this past weekend. She batted .600 (6-for-10) with one home run, three doubles, six RBI and two runs scored. She tallied a 1.200 slugging and .545 on-base percentages, as well. In UNLV's 3-1 win at New Mexico, she went 1-for-3. In a 9-4 win at Colorado State, she went 3-for-4 with two doubles, two RBI and one run scored. She notched the game-winning hit in the fifth inning with an RBI-single to push UNLV ahead 5-3. In a 15-3, five-inning game two win over the Rams, she went 2-for-3 with a home run, one double, four RBI and one run scored. Trailing 2-0, she hit a two-run homer that helped spur 15 unanswered runs for the Rebels in the game.
O'Connor, a Littleton, Colo., native, earned the pitcher of the week award earlier this year on March 16. This past weekend, she went 2-0 at Colorado State. In 9.2 innings in the circle, she struck out six, while giving up 10 hits, four earned runs and five walks. With the Rebels facing a 3-0 deficit in the third inning of game one, O'Connor came on in relief. In 4.2 innings of work, she struck out three and gave up one run off of five hits, as UNLV used nine unanswered runs on the way to a 9-4 victory. In UNLV's 15-3, five-inning game two win over CSU, she went the distance for her eighth complete game of the year. In 5.0 innings of work she gave up five hits and three run, while fanning three and walking three.
In all, UNLV student-athletes earned five player of the week and two pitcher of the week honors in 2010. This season was the first time since 2005 that an offensive player was recognized on at least five occasions. The 2005 squad had five different players earn player of the week status with the five claiming a total of 10 awards that season. On the pitcher's side, this year was the first time since 2007 that UNLV earned two or more pitcher of the weeks.
