The offense was again strong on Saturday, but it was the superb pitching of seniors Kwyn Cooper and Morgan Ettinger that stole the show.
The Cardinals (3-1), picked to finish second in the ACC this year, had won their first two games in the Sportco Kick Off Classic by a combined score of 30-6, so Cooper was facing a tough test in game one. After giving up three runs, two of them earned, over the first two innings, Cooper found her groove, holding Louisville scoreless for the next 4.1 innings before giving way to Ettinger. Ettinger came in and got the final two outs to pick up the save, while Cooper registered her first win of 2017. It was a nice bounce-back performance by Cooper after she gave up four runs on three hits in taking the loss to Indiana State on Friday.
A day after giving up just two runs on five hits with seven strikeouts in 6.0 innings pitched in a 10-2 win over Virginia Tech, Ettinger turned in an even more impressive performance on Saturday night, giving up just one hit and no runs with four more strikeouts in 5.0 innings of shutout ball. The senior had a no-hitter going through four innings before giving up a hit in the fifth en route to earning her second-straight victory.
At the plate, the Rebels have gotten off to a strong start. Through four games, UNLV is batting .349 as a team with a .477 slugging percentage and a .432 on base percentage. Seven players are hitting above .300, including five above .400. Senior transfer
Brianna Gatlin, who joined the Rebels this fall after three years at Utah Valley, has made an immediate impact, leading the team in hits (7), extra base hits (4), is tied for the lead in RBIs (4) and is second in batting average (.538). She was key in both wins on Saturday as she hit a triple in each game to drive in a total of three runs for the Rebels.
Facing Louisville, the Rebels' offense picked up where it left off against Virginia Tech, scoring four runs on four hits and two errors in the bottom of the first to take a lead they never relinquished. The response by UNLV was huge after the Cardinals looked like their offense was going to keep rolling.
Starting the first-inning rally was none other than Jadelyn Yadao-Valdez, who Dodd refers to as the "spark plug" of this team. The junior made contact and outran the throw to first base for a single, then scored on the first Gatlin RBI triple. Freshman Justine Federe brought her home with a single through the left side that was just out of the reach of the shortstop to even the game at two. A fielding error on a hard hit ball by Janine Petmecky put runners on the corners with one out. Petmecky put the pressure on the Cardinals by attempting to steal second and the throw from the Louisville catcher skipped past the second baseman, which scored Federe from third and allowed Petmecky to take an extra base. Sophomore transfer Kiley Harrison, making her second career start as a Rebel, continued her hot streak with a single up the middle to score Petmecky. Harrison's fourth RBI of the season gave the Rebels a 4-2 lead one frame into the game.
Both teams went scoreless in the third, fourth and fifth innings to keep the margin at two. After Louisville failed to score in the top of the sixth, the Rebels were looking to add an insurance run heading into the final frame. And that they did, though not in the conventional way. Freshman Charlie Masterson was sent to pinch hit for Emily Vela and took first after getting hit by a pitch. Vela came back in to run for Masterson and advanced to second on a fielder's choice, then moved to third on a base hit by freshman Mara Kemmer. With two outs and pinch-hitter Chrissi Omalza at the plate, Kemmer took a big lead at first and got stuck in a rundown between first and second. As the Cardinals chased her down, Vela sprinted home before Kemmer was tagged out to provide the final margin of 5-2.
Overall, Gatlin and Federe paced the UNLV offense, each going 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI.
The win moved to the Rebels to 3-0 all-time against the Cardinals, with all three victories coming in the last four years. UNLV won the first-ever meeting between the schools on Feb. 8, 2013 as the Rebels defeated the 18th-ranked Cardinals 10-1.
In the night game against Southern Utah (1-2), the Rebels' offense again got going early, picking up three runs on three hits in the bottom of the first. After leadoff hitter Mara Kemmer took first on a hit by pitch, Yadao-Valdez singled and an error allowed the runners to get to third and second, respectively. With both runners in scoring position, Gatlin blasted the ball down the right field line, getting all the way to third for a bases-clearing two-run triple -- her second RBI triple of the day.
A leadoff double by Vela, a single by Myranda Bueno and a fielder's choice by Kemmer led to another run for the Scarlet and Gray in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Freshman Breana Burke replaced Ettinger to start the sixth inning and pitched two scoreless innings in relief.
UNLV will wrap up the Sportco Kick Off Classic on Sunday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. against CSU Bakersfield at Eller Media Stadium.
Saturday's final two tournament games - Virginia Tech vs. CSU Bakersfield and Virginia Tech vs. Southern Utah - were called due to weather. Tournament officials are deciding whether make up games will be played on Sunday.
-UNLV-
