Friday, March 13
Las Vegas, NV
6:00 p.m.
University of Nevada Las Vegas
vs
UNR
3/11/2020 12:57:00 PM | Softball
UNLV eyeing third straight series win over the Wolf Pack
- Friday, March 13 | 6 p.m. | Live Stats | Live VideoÂ
- Saturday, March 14 | 4 p.m. | Live Stats | Live Video
- Sunday, March 15 | 12 p.m. | Live Stats | Live Video
The Rebels have captured two of three from the Wolf Pack in each of coach Kristie Fox's first two seasons and will be looking for its third straight series win over the team up north since they did the same from 2013-15.
UNLV finished out its final non-conference tournament last weekend going 5-0 at Grand Canyon's Lopes Up Classic in Phoenix. The perfect mark came down to the final out of the weekend, however, as it took nine innings Sunday against the 'Lopes in a 8-7 win to wrap it up. The Rebels also had a pair of wins over Saint Joseph's, a shutout win over Montana and another win over Grand Canyon earlier in the weekend.
After starting the season 2-3, the Rebels have now won 19 of their last 21 games, while the 21-5 mark is tied for the second-best start through 26 games in program history.
Leading the way for the Rebel offense in 2020 is second baseman Justine Federe, who is hitting .376 with 26 RBIs, 22 runs scored and six home runs, which are all team-best marks. The senior has five game-winning RBIs in the last three weekends alone and hit two home runs in Sunday's 8-7 win in nine innings over Grand Canyon.
The pitching staff continues to impress as the trio of sophomore Jenny Bressler and seniors Breana Burke and Charlie Masterson have combined for a 1.71 ERA. which ranks second in the Mountain West and 13th in the country. Sophomore Jenny Bressler has already tallied 11 wins this season with a staff-best ERA of 1.27, which ranks third in the Mountain West. Burke and Masterson are also in the top-10 in the league in sixth and seventh at 1.91 and 1.92, respectively.
As it has been since Fox took over, the Rebel defense is a strong suit with their .980 fielding percentage ranking first in the MW and seventh in the country. After committing four errors on opening day, UNLV has just 11 in 24 games since.
After the series with UNR, the Rebels will have an early conference bye week and will welcome Pac-12's Cal to town for a three-game series March 20-21. A doubleheader will be played Friday, March 20 starting at 3 p.m. with the series wrapping up Saturday, March 21 at 1 p.m.
QUICK HITTERS
• After going 2-3 to start the season, UNLV has won 19 of its 21 last games
• The 21-5 mark matches the second-best start through 26 game sin program history
• The Rebels's longest winning streak of the season is seven games, which is the longest since the 2010 team won 10 straight at one point
• Rebels tallied another shutout at the Lopes Up Classic, bringing their season total to eight, which ranks 13th in the country
• UNLV's 1.71 ERA ranks second in the Mountain West and is currently 13th in the country
• Rebels also rank second in the MW in runs allowed (55), earned runs allowed (44) and opposing batting average (.207)
• The Rebels' .292 batting average and 134 runs rank fourth in the Mountain West, while they are third in hits (199) and RBI (125)
• Has outscored opponents 134-55 through 26 games
• Scoring first and early has been key as they have outscored opponents 32-3 in the first inning and are 20-0 when striking first
• Having the lead by the fourth inning has also been important as they are unbeaten at 17-0 when they do
• Scoring six or more runs has also been key as they are 11-0 when they do
• Situationally, the Rebels are hitting over .300 with runners in scoring position (.303) and with two outs (.325)
• After committing four errors on opening day, including three in the first game, UNLV has committed just 11 errors in 23 games since
• Rebels' .980 fielding percentage ranks first in the Mountain West and seventh 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 leads the team with a .376 batting average (min. 50 at-bats), 26 RBI, 22 runs scored and six home runs. Her RBIs rank second in the MW, runs scored rank tied for fourth and her home runs are tied for third
• Federe has five game-winning RBIs in the last three weekends and had a team-high 15-game hitting streak this season
• The second second baseman had another strong weekend in Phoenix as she tallied five hits, seven runs scored, four RBI and two home runs, both of which came in the 8-7 win in nine innings over GCU in the weekend finale
• 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
• Junior Mia Trejo, who was a two-time NFCA all-region selection, got back on track at the plate last weekend in Phoenix, hitting a team-best .438 with seven hits, three runs scored, two doubles, a home run and five runs batted in. That brings her season average to .342 to go along with21 RBI, five doubles, three home runs and 12 runs scored
• Freshman Maddie Schmidt has had a stellar start at the plate in her first collegiate season. The left fielder is second on the team in batting average (.365) and ranks ninth in the MW, while her 20 runs scored are tied for seventh. She is also 17-for-17 in stolen base attempts, which is second in the MW
• Schmidt and senior Lauren Tycksen have 30 of UNLV's 35 stolen bases
• The Rebels have 17 home runs with the usual suspects - Mia Trejo, Samantha Diaz and Justine Federe - combining for 13 of them
• Like Schmidt, another freshman Caitlin Covington has been impressive at the plate in her first collegiate season with 14 hits, a home run, 10 RBI and seven runs scored
• Federe leads the way with eight multi-hit games and eight multi-RBI games
• Federe 15-game hitting streak ended last weekend, but Samantha Diaz will enter the UNR series with a six-game hitting streak
• Trejo owns the mark for longest on-base streak at 16 at one point this season
• The Rebel pitching staff has been lights out so far in 2020 thanks to all three pitchers from last year's stingy staff returning. The trio of senior Breana Burke, Charlie Masterson and Jenny Bressler all rank in the top-seven in the Mountain West with Bressler in third at 1.27, Burke in sixth 1.91 and Masterson seventh at 1.92
• Bressler leads the conference in opposing batting average (.180), tied for first in wins (11), second in innings pitched (82.2), second in batters struck out (89), while Masterson is first with three saves
• Bressler had another strong weekend in Phoenix, going 3-0 with two complete games, including a 1-0 complete-game shutout against Montana, with 17 strikeouts in 19.0 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 and video links for all three games is available at UNLVRebels.com. Live updates can also be found by following @UNLVSoftball on twitter.
Players Mentioned
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