April 2, 2018 UNLV (20-13, 3-6) at San Diego (21-15)
USD Softball Complex
San Diego, Calif.
April 3 | 2 p.m.
LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) -
UNLV softball will make a quick trip to San Diego for its lone mid-week game and last non-conference game of 2018 as the Rebels take on the University of San Diego Tuesday, April 3 at 2 p.m. at the USD Softball Complex. The Rebels will then return home to host San Diego State April 6-8, on "Heroes Weekend" at Eller Media Stadium.
UNLV will be looking to end its current five-game losing skid on Tuesday against the Toreros. The Rebels will also try to get their offense going as they have sputtered during the streak with just five runs in the last 34 innings. A win would give UNLV some momentum heading into their home conference series against SDSU - a series that will be important after dropping its last two MW series.
Against San Jose State, the pitching, offense and defense couldn't put it all together at the same time, leading to the sweep. The Spartans outscored the Rebels 18-5 in the three games after UNLV had entered the series outscoring its opponents 123-87.
Despite the losses, the Rebels continue to lead the MW with a 2.90 ERA, while senior Janine Petmecky - who has lost her last three starts - still leads the conference with a 1.96 ERA and her 94 strikeouts are second. First baseman Mia Trejo also continued her strong freshman campaign as she was the top performer at the plate against SJSU, going 5-for-8 (.625) with one run and one RBI. Furthermore, the Rebel defense continues be the top unit in the conference at .977, which ranks No. 8 in all of NCAA Division I softball.
USD enters Tuesday's contest with a 21-15 overall record and has yet to start conference play. The Toreros have only lost four games at home all year and have wins over two Mountain West schools this season - a 7-2 victory over Colorado State and 4-2 win over cross-town rival and upcoming UNLV opponent San Diego State.
RANKING THE REBELS • Mountain West: Overall UNLV leads the conference in fielding percentage (.977), is second in ERA (2.90) and ranks seventh with a .280 batting average. The Rebels are fifth with 242 hits, are eighth with 111 RBI and are seventh with 128 runs scored. Rebel pitchers are first in the conference in innings pitched at 222.1, third in opposing batting average (.267) and fourth strikeouts (165). Individually, Janine Petmecky's 1.96 ERA leads the MW, while her .232 opposing batting average is fifth and her 94 strikeouts are second.
• NCAA: UNLV is 8th in the country in fielding percentage (.977)
• RPI: UNLV ranks No. 122 in the current RPI standings
QUICK HITTERS
• The Rebels dropped its second straight MW conference series and has now lost five straight contests, marking its longest losing skid of the season.
• UNLV's 20-8 record through the first 28 game was the program's best start since the 1996 squad had the same record to start the season.
• UNLV has only committed 22 errors in 33 games this season, while their opponents have committed 42.
• If the Rebels can score first, they have a good shot to win as they are 14-2 when that occurs. They had started the season 13-0 in that category, but have gone 1-2 since then in those instances.
• The Rebels have only lost once when they've out-hit their opponent at 14-1, but are 5-11 when out-hit by their opponents.
• Season Streaks: The Rebels have two separate four-game win streaks while their current five game losing streak is their longest this year.
•Individual Streaks: Junior Myranda Bueno, who returned to the lineup against New Mexico March 16-18 after suffering a facial injury in Houston, has the longest hitting streak of the season at 10. Senior Brooke Stover entered the weekend at SJSU with a nine game hitting streak, but that ended in the series opener against the Spartans. Freshman Mia Trejo reached base safely in 13 straight games, which is the longest such streak this season. • Offensive Struggles: After a stretch of 10 innings that saw the offense score 19 runs, which included two run-rule wins, the Rebels have managed just five runs since - a span of 34 innings - during a five game losing streak. While the hitting with runners in scoring position was a strong suit of the offense this season, as of late they've been struggling in that category, with their .150 average at San Jose State being the lowest of the season.
• The Rebel pitching staff has a combined 2.90 ERA, which is second in the Mountain West despite the sweep. Petmecky leads the way with a 1.96 ERA (first in the MW), a 12-5 record and 94 strikeouts (second in the MW). Opposing batters are hitting .232 off her, which is fifth in the conference.
• Trejo was UNLV's top performer at San Jose State as she went 5-for-8 with one RBI and one run scored. In two of the three losses, she was responsible for half of the Rebel hits.
• In Thursday's 4-1 loss to SJSU, UNLV's sixth-inning run ended an 18.2-inning scoreless streak by the Rebel offense. That streak came after the Rebels had scored 10 runs in a span of six innings.
• The MW sweep at the hands of the Spartans with the Rebels' first since SDSU swept them in the second to last weekend last spring.
• Senior third baseman Jade Yadao-Valdez is second on the team with a career-high .341 average this season and is tied for second with 30 hits. Against Utah State, she swiped her 13th stolen base of the season, marking a new career high.
• Trejo leads the lead with 10 multi-hit games this season, while Stover has a team-best six multi-RBI games. Overall, Trejo and Stover have combined fo 17 multi-hit games and 10 multi-RBI games.
• After having one run-rule victory all of last season, the Rebels already have four this season, which included two straight from the series finale in New Mexico to the series opener against Utah State.
• 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. It marked 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 on Feb. 21. It marked just the third time since 2011 a pair of Rebels have earned the honor in the same week.
• The Rebels 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 six shutouts on the season, with Petmecky responsible for four of them.
• Both Petmecky and sophomore pitcher Charlie Masterson have already recorded career highs in innings pitched, strikeouts and wins this season.
• UNLV is five wins shy of matching its total from all of 2017.
LIVE STATS/UPDATES
Live stats for Tuesday's game will be available on the Softball schedule page on www.UNLVRebels.com. Live updates can also be found by following @UNLVSoftball on twitter.
