LAS VEGAS. (UNLVRebels.com) - After an impressive 5-0 weekend on the first road trip of the year, the UNLV softball (12-4) team will return home this weekend for the Boyd Gaming Classic at Eller Media Stadium, Friday, February 28 - Sunday, March 1.
Joining the Rebels at the tournament is UTEP, New Mexico State and Houston with UNLV facing UTEP and New Mexico State twice each and Houston once. The Rebels will kick off the event against UTEP at 3 p.m. on Friday, then face New Mexico State at 5:30 p.m. Friday and again at 3 p.m. on Saturday before taking on Houston at 5:30 p.m. in the night cap. UNLV will wrap up the weekend with a second game against UTEP on Sunday at 11 a.m.
UNLV enters the weekend having won five straight and 10 of its last 11 after starting the season 2-3. The Rebels cleaned up in Tennessee last weekend with an undefeated record that included a pair of 1-0 shutouts and an epic eight-run seventh-inning comeback against tournament host UT Chattanooga.
The Rebel offense came alive in Tennessee as it outscored opponents 28-11 in its last three games, led by second baseman
Justine Federe. In the five games, the senior went 8-for-18 (.444) with six RBI, six runs scored, two doubles, two stolen bases and the highlight, a three-run go-ahead home run to cap the eight-run rally for the win over UTC. It was her second game-winner of the weekend as she drove in the deciding run in a 1-0 victory over St. Francis. For her performance, Federe earned her first career Mountain West Softball Player of the Week honor.
The pitching staff continues to be downright stingy as the trio of sophomore
Jenny Bressler and seniors
Breana Burke and
Charlie Masterson have combined for a Mountain-West leading 1.36 ERA that ranks eighth in all of NCAA softball. Masterson is having a career-year, leading the MW with a 0.49 ERA, allowing just three runs, two earned, in 28.1 innings pitched, while her ERA is tied for 12th in the nation individually. Burke is also having a career-year so far with a 0.98 ERA and a 3-0 record in 2020.
As it has been since
Kristie Fox took over, the Rebel defense is a strong suit with their .978 fielding percentage ranking first in the MW and 20th in the country.
The Rebels will need all three phases to be on point at the Boyd Gaming Classic as two of the three opponents come to Las Vegas with winning records. Houston, who is receiving votes in both major polls, is 12-4 and has a recent win over No. 20 Texas Tech, while New Mexico State is 9-3 and on a five-game winning streak as well.
UNLV will be back on the road next weekend for its final non-conference tournament before league play begins. The Rebels will compete in Grand Canyon's Lopes Up Classic, March 6-8, in Phoenix, Arizona, before returning home to open their conference slate against rival UNR, March 13-15.
QUICK HITTERS
• After going 2-3 to start the season, UNLV has won 10 of its last games
• The Rebels have winning streaks of six games and currently a five-gamer heading into the weekend
• Rebels tallied two more shutouts in Tennessee, bringing their total to five, which is tied for 14th in the nation
• UNLV's 1.36 ERA ranks first in the Mountain West and is currently 8th in the country
• Rebels also rank first in the MW through three weeks in runs allowed (28), earned runs allowed (21) and opposing batting average (.199)
• The Rebels' .274 batting average ranks fifth in the Mountain West, while they are fifth in hits (111) and tied for third in home runs (12)
• Has outscored opponents 83-28 through 16 games, including 30-11 last weekend in Tennessee
• Scoring first and early has been key as they have outscored opponents 26-3 in the first inning and are 11-0 when striking first
• Scoring six or more runs has also been key as they are 9-0 when they do
• Situationally, the Rebels are hitting best with two outs at a clip of .319. With runners in scoring position, which was their strong suit a year ago, they improved from .284 to .313 after the weekend in TN
• After committing four errors on opening day, including three in the first game, UNLV has committed just six errors in 14 games since
• Rebels' .978 fielding percentage ranks second in the Mountain West and 20th in the country
• Senior
Justine Federe, a NFCA All-Region Third Team selection last spring, picked up right where she left off last year as she's second with a .380 batting average with a team-best 16 RBI, which is third in the MW, three home runs, four doubles, 19 hits and 11 runs
• Federe earned her first MW Player of the Week honor on Feb. 25 after going 8-for-18 (.444) with six RBI, six runs scored and two game-winning hits, including a three-run home run as part of an eight-run seventh-inning comeback against UT Chattanooga
• Freshman
Maddie Schmidt has had a stellar start at the plate in her first collegiate season, leading the team in batting average (.442), which ranks third in the MW, and leads the team in runs scored (14) and tied for first in hits (19). She is also 12-for-12 in stolen base attempts
• Schmidt and Federe had an outstanding weekend in Tennessee as the two sparked the Rebel offense, combining to go 15-for-33 (.455) with 11 RBI, 11 runs scored, two doubles, a triple, home run and nine walks
• Schmidt and senior
Lauren Tycksen have 20 of UNLV's 24 stolen bases, with Schmidt's 12 ranking second in the MW
• The Rebels have 12 home runs with the usual suspects -
Mia Trejo,
Samantha Diaz and
Justine Federe - combining for 11 of them
• Like Schmidt, another freshman
Caitlin Covington has been impressive at the plate in her first collegiate season with nine hits, a home run, seven RBI and six runs scored
• Schmidt leads the team in multi-hit games with six, while Federe is top with six multi-RBI games
• Federe will enter the Boyd Classic on a 10-game hitting streak, while
Mia Trejo and
Maddie Schmidt each have four-gamers going.
• Trejo has reached base in 16 straight games, a team-high this season, and Federe is at 10
• The Rebel pitching staff has been lights out so far in 2020 thanks to all three pitchers from last year's stingy staff returning. Senior
Breana Burke and
Charlie Masterson and sophomore
Jenny Bressler all rank in the top-10 in the MW in ERA, with Masterson on top a 0.49, Burke in fourth at 0.98 and Bressler in seventh at 1.73
• Burke also leads the conference in opposing batting average (.163)
• Masterson was impressive in Tennessee, going 2-0 with two saves, zero runs allowed on six hits in 10.2 innings pitched
• UNLV was picked third in the 2019 Mountain West Preseason Coaches poll, its highest predicted finish since 2015
•
Andy Jarvis was promoted to Associate Head Coach prior to the 2020 campaign after being an integral part of the success at the plate and the stellar defense in the outfield
• Pitching coach
Emily Vincent, who was a standout pitcher at McNeese State, enters her second season after leading the pitching staff to the top ERA in the conference in 2019
LIVE STATS/UPDATES
Live stats for all five games are available at www.UNLVRebels.com. Video links via YouTube are also available on www.UNLVRebels.com for the first four UNLV games of the weekend. Full tournament schedule can be found at: https://unlvrebels.com/feature/2020BoydGamingRebelClassic. Live updates can also be found by following @UNLVSoftball on twitter.
