Nov. 3, 2011
LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) -
2012 Softball Schedule
UNLV softball head coach Pete Manarino announced the 2012 schedule on Thursday. The Rebels have 50 games scheduled with 34 of those contests occurring in seven tournaments, three of which they will host. The schedule is loaded with 13 games against 10 squads that made the 2011 NCAA Tournament, which includes one that advanced to the Women's College World Series (Oklahoma) and another that reached the Super Regionals (Houston).
UNLV opens up the season with 14 of its first 19 games played in the friendly confines of Eller Media Stadium. The Rebels' first four games will take place in the Sportco Kick-Off Classic, which is scheduled for Feb. 10-12 and features meetings with Weber State, Minnesota, CSU Bakersfield and perennial power Oklahoma. Kent State is also attending the tournament, but will not play UNLV.
The Louisville Slugger Desert Classic, one of the premier tournaments in the country, will take place the second week of the season (Feb. 16-19) and welcome 17 other teams to the Las Vegas Valley with games played at Eller Media Stadium and at Stephanie Lynn Craig Park in nearby Henderson. The Rebels are scheduled to open up the four-day affair with contests against Memphis and DePaul, two teams that played in the postseason last year. UNLV will also go head-to-head with Idaho State, Ohio State and Hawai'i. In all, eight of the 17 teams in the LSDC participated in the 2011 NCAA Tournament.
After opening the season with nine games at home, the Rebels head to the Golden State for 22 of their next 27 contests. They will play in UC Santa Barbara's Gaucho Classic I (Feb. 24-26), Long Beach State's Invitational (March 9-11), the San Diego Classic II (March 16-18) - a tournament jointly hosted by San Diego State and the University of San Diego, Cal Poly's Mustang Classic (March 23-25) and a doubleheader at Fresno State (April 4). UNLV is slated to play five games in each of the four California tournaments.
The team's only home contests in March will occur at its own Eller Media Stadium Classic (March 2-4) that welcomes Florida Atlantic, Illinois, New Mexico State and Seton Hall to town.
Following the excursion through California's highways and byways, UNLV will have 14 games remaining on its regular-season schedule starting with a doubleheader against Southern Utah on April 11 in Las Vegas.
The Rebels will only play 12 games against conference foes with six at home and six on the road. They open up with a three-game road trip to Boise State, the newest addition to the league, on April 13-15. The team then takes a weekend off before resuming at home against Colorado State (April 27-29). A trip to New Mexico (May 4-6) will take place before UNLV closes out the regular season with a visit by San Diego State (May 10-12).
