BANK OF HAWAI'I INVITATIONAL//RAINBOW WAHINE SOFTBALL STADIUM//FEB. 24-26

BOX SCORES: Oregon 4 UNLV 2 // UNLV 6 Hawai'i 3HONOLULU, Hawaii (UNLVRebels.com) - UNLV Softball's first day at the Bank of Hawai'i Invitational in Honolulu ended on a high note as the Rebels completed their fourth come-from-behind victory in the last six games to go 1-1 on opening day of the tournament. Friday's games were highlighted by three home runs, including a game-winning two-run shot by freshman Justine Federe in a 6-3 win over host Hawai'i, and Morgan Ettinger's third-straight complete-game performance. The Rebels, now 8-3 on the season, dropped a close one to No. 5 Oregon (12-0), losing 4-2 earlier in the day.

Oregon entered the weekend as one of just 14 teams in the country still unbeaten after two weeks of play. While the Rebels had a winning streak of their own heading into the game, the Ducks were able to fend off the feisty underdogs to preserve their unblemished mark.

The Ducks took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first after stringing together a single and a double off of Rebel starter Kwyn Cooper. Over the next two innings, Cooper put the Ducks down in order, before running into trouble in the fourth, when Oregon pushed three runs past the plate on four hits and an error. Outside of the one three-run inning, Cooper had a solid performance in the circle and the Rebels hung right with the fifth-ranked team in the country.

Facing Oregon's Megan Kleist, who entered the game with a 3-0 record and .30 ERA, UNLV was able to scatter six hits over seven innings, but Kleist proved to be as good as her stats indicate. One Rebel who did find success against Kleist was senior Brianna Gatlin, who has been a force at the plate so far in her first year on the team. Gatlin went 2-for-3, including her team-leading third double of the season in the first inning and a two-run homer in the sixth to cut the Oregon lead to two, making things interesting late for UNLV before the comeback bid came up short.

After failing to score in the first inning for just the third time this year in game one, the Rebels got on the board against Hawai'i right away on a single by Janine Petmecky that sent Kiley Harrison home. Ettinger, making her seventh start in the cirlce, had another strong performance, with the only blemish coming in the third inning when she gave up back-to-back home runs that allowed the Rainbow Wahine to take a 3-1 lead. The Reigning Mountain West Pitcher of the Week settled down after that, holding Hawai'i scoreless over the final four innings to pick up her seventh win of the season in her third-straight complete game. The senior is now one victory shy of her win total in all of 2016.

As has seemed to be the mantra this season, the Rebels never give up when they face a deficit, no matter what inning it is. Three of four wins last weekend took come-from-behind efforts and that trend continued against Hawai'i. UNLV got one run back in the fifth on Abby Howard's solo home run to close the gap to 3-2 with two more chances at the plate to take the lead. Starting the rally in the top of the sixth was none other than Gatlin, who singled to right field and advanced all the way to third on a throwing error. Petmecky brought her home with a sac fly to even the score at three, then Alyssa Navarro walked to put the go-ahead run on first. That's when Federe stepped to the plate and smoked the first pitch to center field for a two-run shot. The Rebels added an insurance run in the seventh on a Harrison RBI single while Ettinger finished things off in the bottom of the seventh to secure the victory.

Federe had a huge day at the plate, going 4-for-6 (.664) with one run scored, two RBIs and the home run.

The Rebels are back in action with another doubleheader on Saturday, facing Montana at 2 p.m. PT followed by a rematch with Hawai'i at 6 p.m. PT at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.

-UNLV-