March 26, 2014
2014 UNLV Softball Weekly Notes - Week Eight
LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV Rebels, who just concluded a five-game homestand that included a 3-0 start to Mountain West play with a sweep of in-state rival Nevada, Reno, hit the road for a six-game stretch that will be spread over two weekends.
First up for UNLV is a visit to the Bay Area for three games against one of the newcomers to the conference, San José State. The Rebels and Spartans will play all three at SJSU Field with the series beginning Friday, March 28 at 3:00 pm. The remaining games will begin earlier in the day with Saturday's (March 29) set for 1:00 pm while Sunday's finale (March 30) is at noon.
ON DECK: The UNLV Rebels will stay out on the road for their first of two trips to the Mountain Time Zone this season. UNLV will head north to Idaho from April 4-6 to square off against the Boise State Broncos in a three-game Mountain West series.
GOVERNOR'S SERIES UPDATE: With help from the Rebel softball's wins over Nevada, Reno last Friday (13-1 in five innings) and Saturday (7-4), the UNLV athletics department increased its lead to nine points (18.0 to 9.0) in the Governor's Series presented by NV Energy and sponsored by Barrick Gold over its cohorts from the northern portion of the state.
The Governor's Series is a head-to-head athletic and academic challenge between the two NCAA Division I athletics departments in the Silver State. The all-encompassing competition will annually crown one school the winner..
UNLV claimed the inaugural Governor's Series in 2012-13 by a handy 24-point margin (34.5 to 10.5). Coincidentally, it was softball's series win (two games to one) over UNR in 2013 that clinched the victory for UNLV!
LOOKING BACK A WEEK: The UNLV Rebels went 3-2 at home last week in a five-game homestand. UNLV opened up action with a doubleheader against then-#7/9 Arizona on Wednesday before Mountain West play began with a series against in-state rival Nevada, Reno.
The Rebels took the Wildcats to the wire in both affairs. Unfortunately, UNLV's seventh-inning, game one rally fell short as Arizona won 3-2. In the second affair, the Scarlet & Gray were successful in its half of the seventh with Tayler Van Acker drilling a game-tying, three-run home run. However, the momentum returned to the 'Cats when they quickly answered with a two-run homer of their own in the eighth.
Offensively, UNLV had five players hit .313 or better with a minimum of five hits during the week. Garie Blando and Stefany Valentino led the squad with six hits apiece, but the former owned a higher batting average (.600 to .500). Besides vying for the top in hits and average, Blando was first in runs (seven), slugging percentage (.800), walks (seven) and on-base percentage (.789).
Rounding out the offensive quintet were Tayler Van Acker (.385/five hits), Jamie DePippo (.364/four hits) and Pauline Monreal (.313/five hits).
Monreal contributed a team-best 10 RBI with 12 total bases off of three extra-base hits (two home runs and one double). She also scored four runs and owned a .750 slugging percentage.
In the circle, Amanda Oliveto and Morgan Ettinger picked up all of the decisions behind a total of seven appearances, three starts and 26.0 innings of work.
Oliveto went 2-1 with an ERA of 2.29 in four appearances, three of which were starts. She threw a total of 18.1 innings with 11 strikeouts. She earned one save, as well.
Ettinger was 1-1 in 7.2 innings and three relief appearances. She had a 1.83 ERA, three strikeouts and one save.
STARTING THE RIGHT WAY: The UNLV Rebels swept their in-state rival Nevada, Reno last weekend to open up the 2014 Mountain West season.
The 3-0 start to the MW year is only the third instance (2007 and '10) since the conference began sponsoring in 2000 that UNLV has remained perfect through three contests.
The Rebels started the 2007 campaign 4-0 with two wins apiece against Utah and BYU while the 2010 squad was 3-0.
THE FIRST GAMES: With help from their 13-1, five-inning win last Friday over their in-state rival Nevada, Reno Wolf Pack, the UNLV Rebels upped their record in Mountain West openers to 7-8.
That win, which was played at Eller Media Stadium, boosted UNLV's home-opening record in conference games to 6-9.
The Rebels opened seven campaigns on the road between 2004 and '13 for a 3-4 mark. In all, they are 4-10 all-time in the first league game played away from Las Vegas.
A SWEEPING SUCCESS: The UNLV Rebels with help from their sweep of in-state rival Nevada, Reno last weekend upped their lead in the head-to-head series to 17-6.
Coupled with a 5-3 win on April 28, 2013 in Reno, UNLV has won four straight games in the series. Dating back to 2012, the Rebels have won six of seven.
The sweep was the first for UNLV in Mountain West play since the conference went to a three-game series format during the 2012 campaign. The Rebels last sweep occurred in 2011 when they won twice at home and once on the road against Colorado State.
RPI RELEASED: The NCAA released its first RPI standings on Monday, March 24 with UNLV ranked 82nd nationally. The Rebels have played 12 games against Top 50 competition with a 2-10 record. They own an 11-8 mark against teams ranked 51 and higher.
As a conference, the Mountain West has six schools ranked in the Top 100 with San Diego State coming in at #34. Fresno State (#49) and San Jose State (#64) round out the trio ahead of UNLV while Colorado State (#83) and Boise State (#99) follow closely behind.
THE TEAM STATISTICALLY: In this week's NCAA softball statistics, the UNLV Rebels are ranked as high as 13th in double plays per game. The UNLV is listed in the top 100 of four other categories: 63rd in home runs per game, 74th in slugging percentage, 82nd in batting average pg & 98th in fielding percentage.
THE PLAYERS STATISTICALLY: In this week's NCAA statistics, the UNLV Rebels have five players ranked within the top 100 of eight different categories.
Individually, Pauline Monreal leads the Scarlet & Gray with her name listed in the top 100 of those five categories. Monreal is 13th in sac flies, 14th in RBI pg, 45th in home runs, 67th in home runs pg and 73rd in slugging percentage.
Stefany Valentino is 13th in sac flies and 73rd in triples is a second Rebel to be listed in multiple categories while Tayler Van Acker is 65th in sac flies; Garie Blando is 65th in toughest to strikeout and Amanda Oliveto is 29th in saves.
