4/14/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Game Notes | 2016 Quick Facts | Record Book
LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - UNLV softball returns home for the third Mountain West series at home this season against interstate rival Nevada, Reno. The Rebels and Wolf Pack square off Friday at 6:00 p.m. to kick off the weekend series. The two teams will then play on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. and 12:00 p.m. on Sunday in the series finale.
UNLV has won all three series against Nevada, Reno since the Wolf Pack joined the Mountain West Conference for the 2012-13 athletic seasons.
THE GOVERNOR'S SERIES
The UNLV Rebels and Nevada, Reno Wolf Pack will square off this season in just this one weekend series at home at Eller Media Stadium. Not only do these games count towards the standings in the Mountain West Conference, but also the Governor's Series presented by NV Energy and Barrick Gold.
The Governor's Series is an all-encompassing athletic and academic head-to-head competition between the Silver State's institutions. To date, UNLV maintains a three-point lead, 13-5 to 10.5, in the 2015-16 standings.
The Scarlet & Gray has won the Governor's Series each year of its existence dating back to its start for 2012-13. UNLV softball has provided the Rebel athletics department the three points associated with the sport in all three previous campaigns.
Three sports have had regular season matchups with the three points yet to be decided: women's tennis, men's tennis and baseball. UNLV was victorious in men's tennis (4-0) and women's tennis (4-2), so Nevada-Reno will need to defeat UNLV in the Mountain West Tournaments if the two schools were to match up to split the three points. In baseball, the Wolf Pack swept the Rebels on March 24-26 in Las Vegas and will host them in another three-game series on May 19-21 and could potentially play each other in the conference tournament.
Women's golf, men's golf and women's outdoor track and field will be decided later on in the year based on the results of their Mountain West Championships. Three points are also given out to the higher APR of the two schools.
STREAMING LIVE
All three games will have a live video stream as part of the Mountain West Network that can be accessed directly at UNLVRebels.com/videos. Wyatt Tomchek serves as the play-by-play announcer on the live broadcast while Jordan Aguilar provides commentary as the color analyst.
PROMOTIONAL ITEMS OF INTEREST
League Night: On Friday any youth player who wears her/his team jersey gets in free, and parents get half off tickets. After the game, kids will be able to run the bases.
Family 4-Pack: On Sunday families can buy a pack of four tickets, four hot dogs and four sodas for just $40.
SCOUTING UNLV
The Rebels, under fourth-year head coach Lisa Dodd, stand 19-22 overall and 3-9 in Mountain West play. After 41 games, senior 2B Alyssa Cordova is the Rebels' leading hitter with a .357 batting average and .434 on-base percentage. She leads the team with 13 walks and shares the team lead with eight doubles in addition to 18 RBI and 21 runs. Senior OF Francesca Foti follows with a .348 batting average and the second best slugging percentage on the team (.562). Foti has a team-high three triples and seven doubles, two home runs and 18 RBI. Sophomore CF/IF Jadelyn Yadao-Valdez (.333) has produced 18 runs on 30 hits and 13 RBI. The speedster Yadao-Valdez leads the team in stolen bases, swiping 10 bases in 12 attempts. Senior 3B/1B Jamie DePippo has hit a team-best five home runs and 21 RBI. DePippo (.297) also leads the team with 26 runs on 36 hits, three doubles and five stolen bases. Sophomore UTL/RHP Janine Petmecky (.339), one of seven Rebels with a batting average over .300, has a team-high 41 hits, eight doubles and 20 RBI. Even with just 66 at-bats, senior C Emily Haslinger (.333) has 19 RBI, four doubles, two triples, three home runs and a team-high .591 slugging percentage.
In the circle junior 1B/RHP Kwyn Cooper (3.28 ERA) sports a 7-9 record in 91.2 innings pitched and 17 starts, the most of any Rebels. Cooper's struck out 25 batters, walked 29 and hit only two batters. Freshman 1B/RHP Alyssa Batastini (3.83) has made 10 starts and 27 appearances, the most of the pitching staff. Batastini has fanned 32 batters and walked 28. Petmecky (4.58) has started eight games and made 22 appearances. With a 3-5 record, she has 26 strikeouts and 24 walks in 59.2 innings pitched. Junior RHP Morgan Ettinger (4.57) has a 4-2 record in six games started and 18 appearances. She has recorded 19 strikeouts, 12 walks and two complete games.
SCOUTING NEVADA, RENO
The Wolf Pack, under the guidance of eighth‐year head coach Matt Meuchel, stand 28-8 overall and 6-3 in Mountain West play. Sophomore OF Aaliyah Gibson boasts a team-high .408 batting average and also leads the team with four triples in addition to 23 RBI, four home runs and a .660 slugging percentage. Sophomore 1B Jennifer Purcell is just behind Gibson with a .404 batting average and leads the team in doubles (16), slugging percentage (.798) and on-base percentage (.491). Senior SS Megan Sweet (.387) leads the squad in hits (46), home runs (9) and RBI (34) and also has a .697 slugging percentage. Junior OF Raquel Martinez has a team-high 27 runs with six home runs and 15 walks and is the only player with more than two steals, going 4-4 on steal attempts.
In the circle three different pitchers have combined to throw all 241.1 innings on the year. Freshman LHP Brooke Bolinger has been the main starter for Nevada, Reno with all 20 appearances being starts. Sporting a 13-4 record, Bolinger (1.88 ERA) has 15 complete games, four shutouts, 92 strikeouts and 37 walks in 126.2 innings pitched. Junior RHP McKenna Isenberg (3.12) has served as the secondary pitcher for the team with a 10-4 record in 14 appearances, all starts. Isenberg has recorded 75 strikeouts and 16 walks in 80.2 innings pitched. Sophomore RHP Chase Redington (3.09) has a 5-0 record in 13 appearances and two starts and is the only pitcher to come in relief. Redington has fanned 11 batters and walked nine in 34 innings.
WHERE THE REBELS RANK IN THE MW
• UNLV ranks first or share the lead in the Mountain West in five offensive categories: triples (10), total plate appearances (1,217), sac bunts (43), stolen bases (42) and steal attempts (54). The Rebels also rank first in two pitching categories: innings pitched (247) and intentional walks allowed (1).
• Janine Petmecky is tied for eighth in hits (41), tied for sixth in plate appearances (137) and sixth in at-bats (121), tied for eighth in striking out batters looking (14), tied for eighth in appearances (14), tied for sixth in least home runs allowed (six) and tied for fifth in putouts (192).
• Alyssa Cordova ranks third in assists (98).
• Jamie DePippo is 10th in runs scored (26), fourth in plate appearances (141), fourth in at-bats (123) and tied for sixth in assists (87).
• Kwyn Cooper is tied for second in hit by pitches for pitching (two) and 12th nationally, fifth in ERA (3.28), 10th in opposing batting average (.286), tied for fourth for appearances (25), sixth in innings pitched (91.2), ninth in wins (seven) and fourth in games started (17).
• Alyssa Batastini ranks 10th in ERA (3.83), second in appearances (27) and first in games in relief (16).
• Jadelyn Yadao-Valdez ranks sixth in stolen bases (10) and fourth in steal attempts (12) while junior OF Courtney Beavers is 10th in steals (seven) and tied for ninth in steal attempts (8).
• Sophomore C Brooke Stover has been the primary catcher for the Rebels, starting in all but five games, is first in runners picked off (four) in the conference and fourth in caught stealing by (six).
• Despite missing the first eight games, Garie Blando is tied for sixth in assists (87).
• Francesca Foti is tied for fifth in triples (3).
• The Rebels have used sac bunts all season long to advance baserunners, placing first in the conference. Four different Rebels place in the top ten for sac bunts so far this season: DePippo has 10 to rank second, Cooper ranks tied for fourth (7), and freshman OF Myranda Bueno and Foti are tied for seventh with six.
• UNLV has been one of the best at turning double plays in the nation, ranking 31st in the NCAA (.45 per game). In the MW, Cordova (10) is tied for fifth in fielding double plays.
THE REBELS GO WHERE THE OFFENSE GOES
The offense has primarily dictated the end result for UNLV. The Rebels are 14-1 when scoring at least six runs but are winless in 12 games when scoring less three runs. When UNLV out-hits opponents they are 13-2 but 3-18 when they are out-hit. UNLV has maintained a lead after four innings in 16 of 18 games, but have only come back for wins trailing after four innings in three of 22 games.
OTHER UNLV NOTES AND TRENDS
• Three Rebels- Alyssa Cordova, Jadelyn Yadao-Valdez and Janine Petmecky- have started all but one game this season.
• Senior C Emily Haslinger has been one of the better power hitters in UNLV history during her four years donning the Scarlet and Grey. She ranks ninth in program history in home runs with 30 and fifth in slugging percentage with .593.
• UNLV defeated Santa Clara 20-1 on March 11 in the Rebel Classic and tied two school records in the blowout win. The Rebels tied the record for runs scored in a game with 20. The previous time the Rebels scored 20 runs was on May, 2 1981 against Redlands. Bueno tied the school record for most doubles in a game with three, joining Jaci Hull (Mar. 24, 2007 versus Sacramento State) as the only Rebels to do so.
• UNLV faced five non-conference opponents for the first time in program history: Lamar, South Dakota, Robert Morris, Valparaiso, and Grand Canyon.
• The Rebels opened MW play at home against San Diego State, capturing the last two wins of the series.
• All six Division I schools in Utah have played multiple games in Las Vegas. Utah State swept this past weekend and also played five games in the DeMarini Desert Classic (Feb. 19-21) and five more in the Rebel Classic (Feb. 11-13). Utah Valley played five games in the Sportco Kick Off Clasic (Feb. 12-14) and lost to UNLV 11-1 in five innings on Feb. 14. Weber State, BYU and Utah all played in the DeMarini Desert Classic. Southern Utah played UNLV twice in the DeMarini Desert Classic and UNLV Classic (March 3-6).
ON DECK
UNLV goes back on the road to face New Mexico next weekend. The Rebels and Lobos will play next Friday at 5:00 p.m. and Saturday at 12:00 p.m. and end the series on Sunday at 11:00 a.m.
