Feb. 17, 2011
LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) -
Week Two Release 
Louisville Slugger Desert Classic Tournament Page
Leading Off: The UNLV Rebels stay home for the second consecutive week at their own Louisville Slugger Desert Classic (Feb. 17-19). The Classic will be played at two locations, UNLV's Eller Media Stadium and Stephanie Lynn Craig Park in nearby Henderson.
UNLV will play a total of five games with contests against: Nevada, Reno (Feb. 17), Arkansas (Feb. 18), Utah State (Feb. 18), SIU-Edwardsville (Feb. 19) and #3/7 Tennessee (Feb. 19).
In all, 17 teams will travel to Las Vegas and participate in the four-day event with six bringing national rankings with them. UCLA, the reigning NCAA national champion, enters the week ranked first in both polls, while Tennessee (#3/7), Hawai'i (#9/12), Oregon (#14/14), Stanford (#19/18) and BYU (#23/RV) round out the quintet.
On Deck The UNLV Rebels leave the friendly confines of Eller Media Stadium for their first road trip of the season. UNLV will head to Riverside, Calif., and play in UC Riverside's Amy S. Harrison Classic (Feb. 25-27).
The Rebels will face Boise State (Feb. 25) and UC Riverside (Feb. 26) once apiece and Cal State Northridge twice (Feb. 25 and 27).
Looking Back A Week: The UNLV Rebels went 2-2 in their first weekend of action during the 2011 campaign. UNLV opened up with two wins last Friday night before suffering two defeats Saturday afternoon.
The Rebels opened up the season with Mississippi State and rallied for a come-from-behind 10-9 extra-inning victory. They followed that up with a six-inning, run-ruled win over UC Riverside.
The #10/11 Washington Huskies handed UNLV its first loss of the year by a 17-13 final score. The team then began strong against Illinois-Chicago, but witnessed the visitors rally for a 4-2 win.
Tayler Aleman was the main ringleader of UNLV's offense this past weekend. Aleman hit .667 with 10 hits, seven RBI and six runs scored. Four of her hits went for extra bases with three home runs and one double. She owned a slugging percentage of 1.333 and an on-base percentage of .706, which was greatly aided by reaching base safely in 12 of 17 at-bats (two walks). She tied a program single-game record with four hits in the Mississippi State (Feb. 11) contest.
Stefany Valentino hit .417 on the weekend, as she went 5-for-12 at the plate in her first action as a Rebel. Valentino had one double and scored five runs.
Paige Emerson was the third Rebel to notch a .400 or better batting average with her .400 effort. Emerson went 6-for-15 with two doubles and a grand slam. She touched home plate eight times and knocked in five RBI, as well.
In the circle, Amanda Oliveto made an appearance in all four games and had her name listed in the final statistics in three of them. Oliveto entered both of Friday's games in relief and notched a win over Mississippi State (Feb. 11) before earning the save against UC Riverside. She registered her first career start against Illinois-Chicago (Feb. 12), but was touched for the loss in 6.0 innings of work. In all, she threw 13.2 innings and owned an ERA of 5.63.
A Noteworthy Performance: Tayler Aleman has started off 2011 similar to her freshman campaign in 2010. Aleman began this season with a four-game hitting streak, a .667 batting average (three home runs and one double), 10 hits, seven RBI and six runs scored.
She had three multiple-hit games last weekend and topped out with a four-hit performance against Mississippi State (Feb. 11) that tied a program single-game record.
Last year, she owned a five-game hitting streak, a .375 batting average, six hits (one home run and one triple), seven RBI and two runs after the first weekend of action.
