Feb. 11, 2011
Box Score: UNLV 10, MSU 9
Box Score: UNLV 13, UCR 5
LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV Rebels (2-0) opened up the 2011 campaign impressively with victories over the Mississippi State Bulldogs (0-2) and UC Riverside Highlanders (0-2) Friday evening from Eller Media Stadium in the Sportco Kick-Off Classic. The wins came in two different fashions with UNLV claiming a 10-9 triumph in a nine-inning marathon with Mississippi State before a six-inning, run-ruled 13-5 victory over UC Riverside.
Ashli Holland was instrumental in both wins for UNLV, as the senior went 4-for-8 on the day with four RBI and four runs scored. Holland tied the MSU affair up in the bottom of the seventh with a sacrifice fly and then won the contest in the ninth with an RBI-double to right. She also cranked a two-run home run in the UCR win.
Sophomore Tayler Aleman hit .625 on the day with a 5-for-8 performance. Aleman also added four RBI and scored three times, as well. She became the first Rebel to record four hits in a single affair since Brittany Bolinger on April 18, 2008 at Colorado State.
Freshman Amanda Oliveto notched career firsts with a win and a save in a Rebel uniform with her 6.2 innings of relief work. Oliveto threw the final 4.2 frames against MSU and allowed only one run on two hits. She followed that up with a two-inning save vs. UCR, as she was touched for only one run off of one hit.
Against MSU, the Rebels staked themselves to a 7-1 lead after two innings of action thanks to a six-run second inning. Jaexie Balilea was the main catalyst in the frame, as she stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and smashed Stephanie Becker's pitch over the wall in left for her first career home run and grand slam.
The Bulldogs answered back the following three frames with six runs of their own, eventually taking a 8-7 lead with help from a four-run fifth. Chelsea Raines smashed a grand slam of her own to deep center to erase the deficit and give MSU a one-run lead.
UNLV evened things up in the seventh with Holland's game-tying sacrifice fly that scored Rayna Bradshaw from third. Bradshaw entered the game as a pinch hitter and with one out before she quickly laced a triple to deep right field to place her in scoring position.
The teams traded runs in the eighth when the international tie-breaker was utilized. After MSU scored in the top of the stanza, Pauline Monreal was responsible for keeping the Rebels alive. She connected on a fielder's choice RBI in the bottom half of the frame to keep the contest rolling.
Oliveto kept the Bulldogs off the scoreboard in the ninth and was awarded with a win due to Holland's second-helping of heroics. With two outs in the recorded and Valentino sitting at first base after reaching on a fielder's choice, Holland then hit Kylie Vry's offering to the fence for the walk-off winner. Vry (0-2) was stuck with the loss in 1.2 innings of relief. She surrendered one run on three hits.
In the nightcap victory, UNLV put some breathing room between itself and UCR before ending the game in six innings. The Rebels picked up the game's first run when Holland led off the game with a double and then immediately scored on Paige Emerson's RBI-double.
UCR answered with a run of its own in the third off an RBI-single from Dionne Anderson.
The Rebels countered with seven in the bottom half of the third for a seven-run cushion off of a six-hit effort. Holland began the scoring with her two-run homer that plated Valentino. Aleman added three more runs when she hit a three-run blast that brought home Emerson and Balilea, who initially doubled and walked, respectively. Samantha Henry capped the outburst with a two-run double off the fence in left-center field that scored Korin Cuico and Bradshaw. Both were on the bases after consecutive singles. Henry's hit spelled the end of Amy Lwin's (0-2) night in the circle and saddled the hurler with the loss in 2.2 innings of work. Lwin's was touched for eight runs (six earned) on eight hits.
The Highlanders plated four runs in the fifth to pull within three at 8-5. They got two runs off of Traci Odegard, who then left the game after throwing the first 4.0 innings and giving up four runs on six hits. Oliveto then came in and gave up an RBI-triple and an RBI-single to put UCR in striking distance.
UNLV decided to put the game out of reach and in the books with five runs in the sixth and final frame. The Rebels scored the first run when Valentino raced home on a wild pitch with the bases loaded. Aleman juiced the bases with a walk and then easily came around to score along with Holland and Emerson on Cuico's walk-off grand slam.
UNLV returns to action Saturday in the second day of the Sportco Kick-Off Classic at 1:30 pm against #10/11 Washington and at 3:45 pm against Illinois-Chicago.
