Albuquerque, N.M.
GAME 2: Saturday, March 17 | 11 a.m. PT | Live Stats GAME 3: Sunday, March 18 | 11 a.m. PT | Live Stats
LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - With the non-conference tournament slate in the rearview mirror, UNLV softball will open Mountain West play on the road this weekend, heading to Albuquerque for a three-game set against New Mexico. First pitch for Friday's series opener will take place at 5 p.m. PT, with Saturday and Sunday's contests both beginning at 11 a.m. PT.
UNLV finished out its non-league slate last weekend, hosting its third and final tournament - the Rebel Classic - at Eller Media Stadium. The Scarlet and Gray went 3-1 with Sunday's final games getting rained out. The victories included a narrow 2-1 victory over DePaul, a 5-2 decision over New Mexico State and a 9-1 six-inning win over Portland State. The lone loss came to No. 1-ranked and undefeated Washington - an 8-0 defeat.
A pair of seniors stepped up to lead UNLV at the Rebel Classic. Right-hander
Janine Petmecky was again impressive in the circle, winning her sixth and seventh straight starts with two more complete game performances. Petmecky is now 10-1 on the season and leads the Mountain West with a 1.06 ERA.
Third baseman Jade Yadao-Valdez was equally impressive at the plate. The Hawaii native went .538 (7-for-13) with four runs scored, one RBI and a .538 on-base percentage. After swiping 11 bases in all of 2017, Yadao-Valdez stole five over the weekend as her timely hits and running threat sparked multiple offensive rallies.
For their performances, Petmecky and Yadao-Valdez were named the Mountain West Pitcher and Player of the Week, respectively. It was the first career honor for each of the them, while it marked just the third time since 2011 a pair of Rebels had earned the honors in the same week.
The Rebel defense continues to be steady as they have committed just 12 errors through 24 games. Their .983 fielding percentage leads the Mountain West and ranks eighth in the country.
RANKING THE REBELS
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Mountain West: Overall UNLV sits top the MW in ERA (2.64) and fielding percentage (.983), while ranking sixth with a .285 batting average. The Rebels are third with 151 hits and are seventh with 96 runs scored. Rebel pitchers are second in the conference in innings pitched at 167.0, fourth in strikeouts (116) and sixth in opposing batting average (.285). Individually,
Justine Federe's 19 RBI are tied for fifth. In the circle,
Janine Petmecky's 1.06 ERA is first, her .210 opposing batting average is fourth and her 64 strikeouts are second.
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NCAA: UNLV is eighth in the country in fielding percentage (.983). Petmecky's 1.06 ERA also ranks 34th nationally.
QUICK HITTERS• UNLV's 17-7 record is the program's best since the 1996 squad went 19-5 through the first 24 games.
• Most recently, UNLV went 3-1 at their own Rebel Classic with their only loss coming to top-ranked Washington.
• UNLV has only committed 12 errors in 24 games this season, has 13 games without an error and has just one game where they have committed more than one.
• If the Rebels can score first and/or gain the lead by the fourth inning, there is a good chance they will win the game. They have yet to lose when they score first and are 14-1 when they are leading after four innings.
• Rebels have only lost once when they've out-hit their opponent at 11-1, but are 5-6 when out-hit by their opponents.
• UNLV is hitting .332 with runners in scoring position, while its opponents are hitting just .259 in those situations.
• Season Streaks: The Rebels have two separate four-game win streaks while their longest losing streak is two and that was over two weekends
• Individual Streaks: Junior
Myranda Bueno, who is out indefinitely with a facial injury suffered in Houston, has the longest hitting streak of the season at 10.
Brooke Stover enters the weekend at New Mexico with a three game hitting streak.
Janine Petmecky has won seven straight starts, all complete game performances.
• At the Rebel Classic, Yadao-Valdez hit .538 (7-for-13) at the plate with at least one hit in each of the UNLV wins to go along with four runs scored, one RBI and a .538 on-base percentage. After swiping 11 bases in all of 2017, Yadao-Valdez stole five this past weekend alone and is just one shy of tying her career-high for a single season with 11 this year.
• Dating back to Feb. 17, Petmecky has won seven consecutive starts, all complete games, giving up just five earned runs over 49.0 innings with 51 strikeouts. For the year, Petmecky has a career-high 64 strikeouts and leads the Mountain West with a 10-1 record and a 1.06 ERA.
• The Rebels swept the Mountain West weekly honors on March 13 with Petmecky earning Pitcher of the Week and Yadao-Valdez earning Player of the Week. This is the first pitcher of the week and second player of the week honor for UNLV this season as freshman
Samantha Diaz already earned the honor once this season. It marked just the third time since 2011 a pair of Rebels have earned the honor in the same week.
• The Rebels already have two come-from-behind extra-inning walk-off wins this season (6-5 over Buffalo in the eighth inning on Feb. 16 and a 3-2 walk-off win over North Dakota State on Friday, Feb. 9) and added a third comeback win in Houston with a 6-5 win over UTSA thanks to a three-run top of the seventh.
• UNLV has four shutouts on the season, with Petmecky responsible for three of them.
• Senior catcher
Brooke Stover has been strong offensively in 2018, hitting .313 with four doubles and 11 RBI and has the second-most multi-RBI games this year.
• The Rebel pitching staff has a combined 2.64 ERA, which leads the Mountain West. Petmecky leads the way with a 1.06 ERA (first in the MW), a 10-1 record and 64 strikeouts (second in the MW).
SCOUTING NEW MEXICO• New Mexico enters the opening weekend of Mountain West play at 6-19 overall, with one win coming over Big 12 member Texas Tech.
• The Lobos are hitting .240 as a team with three players hitting over .300 - Jensen Main, Chelsea Johnson and Cameryn O'Grady. Johnson leads the way with 70 at-bats, 23 hits, 16 RBI and 11 runs scored.
• Pitching has not been a strength in 2018 for UNM as they currently have a 6.70 ERA as a staff. Main is the top pitcher in terms of ERA and strikeouts at 4.80 and 33, respectively.
• The Lobos are coached by first-year head coach Paula Congleton, who came to Albuquerque from Santa Barbara City College.
LIVE STATS/UPDATESLive stats for all five games are available on the Softball schedule page on www.UNLVRebels.com. No video will be available in New Mexico. Live updates can also be found by following @UNLVSoftball on twitter.
