• Friday, March 6 | UNLV vs Saint Joseph's | 11 a.m. PT | Live Stats 
• Friday, March 6 | UNLV vs Grand Canyon | 4 p.m. PT | Live Stats | Live Video
• Saturday, March 7 | UNLV vs Saint Joseph's | 9 a.m. PT | Live Stats 
• Saturday, March 7 | UNLV vs Montana | 11:30 a.m. | Live Stats
• Sunday, March 8 | UNLV vs Grand Canyon | 12:30 p.m. | Live Stats | Live Video

LAS VEGAS. (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV softball (16-5) team will wrap up its non-conference tournament slate in Phoenix this weekend, competing at Grand Canyon's Lopes Up Classic, March 6-8.

The Rebels will face Saint Joseph's twice, Montana once and host Grand Canyon twice, opening the event Friday against Saint Joseph's at 11 a.m. PT, followed by a 4 p.m. PT contest against GCU. Saturday, UNLV and Saint Joseph's will meet again at 9 a.m. PT and then the Rebels will take on Montana, who they've beat twice this season already, at 11:30 a.m. PT before finishing out the weekend Sunday with a second game against Grand Canyon at 12:30 p.m. PT.

UNLV went 4-1 at its final home tournament, the Boyd Gaming Classic, last weekend and now has won 14 of 16 after starting the season 2-3. The Rebels have started 16-5 for the second straight season, matching the third-best start through 21 games in program history.

Leading the way for the Rebel offense through the first month of the season is second baseman Justine Federe, who is hitting .397 and has a team-best 22 runs batted in. In the last two weekends, the senior has connected on four game-winning RBIs, two of which were home runs - a three-run shot to complete the comeback against UT Chattanooga two weeks ago and a walk-off eighth-inning two run bomb against New Mexico State last weekend. She has already earned Mountain West Player of the Year honors this year and enters the weekend in Phoenix on a 15-game hitting streak.

The pitching staff continues to impress as the trio of sophomore Jenny Bressler and seniors Breana Burke and Charlie Masterson have combined for a 1.76 ERA which ranks second in the Mountain West and 14th in the country. Senior Breana Burke leads the three in ERA at 1.27, which is third in the league, to go along with a 3-0 record and 23 strikeouts in 38.2 innings pitched.

As it has been since Kristie Fox took over, the Rebel defense is a strong suit with their .983 fielding percentage ranking first in the MW and fifth in the country. After committing four errors on opening day, UNLV has just six in 19 games since.

After the Lopes Up Classic, the Rebels will return home the next two weekends, opening conference play with a Silver State Series showdown against rival UNR, March 13-15, then hosting Pac-12 member Cal for a three-game series March 20-21.

QUICK HITTERS
• After going 2-3 to start the season, UNLV has won 14 of its 16 last games
• This is the second straight year the Rebels have started 16-5, matching the third-best start through 21 games in 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 two more shutouts in at the Boyd Gaming Classic, bringing their total to seven
• UNLV's 1.76 ERA ranks second in the Mountain West and is currently 14th in the country
• Rebels also rank second in the MW in runs allowed (43), earned runs allowed (36) and opposing batting average (.211)
• The Rebels' .299 batting average and 163 hits rank third in the Mountain West, while the are fifth in runs scored (108) and home runs (13)
• Has outscored opponents 108-43 through 21 games
• Scoring first and early has been key as they have outscored opponents 27-3 in the first inning and are 15-0 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 .348. With runners in scoring position, which was their strong suit a year ago, they are hitting .332
• After committing four errors on opening day, including three in the first game, UNLV has committed just six errors in 19 games since
• Rebels' .983 fielding percentage  ranks first in the Mountain West and fifth 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 .397 batting average with a team-best 22 RBI, which is third in the MW, four home runs, five doubles, 27 hits and 15 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
• A week after earning MW Player of the Week, Federe nabbed two more game-winning RBIs, driving in the game-winner in a 3-0 win over New Mexico State, breaking scoreless tie in the third with a two-out RBI double that scored what proved to be the game-winning run, then scored a run. In the second game against NMSU, went 3-for-4 with four RBI and one run scored. With UNLV trailing 3-2 in the sixth inning, Federe delivered with a two-out two-run single to right field to give the Rebels a 4-3 lead. After NMSU tied it at 4, Federe was up again in the bottom of the eighth needing a hit to bring the game-winner in from third, didn't just get a hit she blasted a two run home run over the left center field wall for the walk-off win
• Freshman Maddie Schmidt has had a stellar start at the plate in her first collegiate season, leading the team in batting average (.424), which ranks fourth in the MW, and leads the team in runs scored (18) and in second in hits (19). She is also 16-for-16 in stolen base attempts, which is second in the MW
• Schmidt and senior Lauren Tycksen have 27 of UNLV's 31 stolen bases
• The Rebels have 13 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 14 hits, a home run, 10 RBI and seven runs scored
• Schmidt leads the team in multi-hit games with eight, while Federe is top with seven multi-RBI games
• Federe will enter the Boyd Classic on a 15-game hitting streak, while Jaclyn Candelas has a five-game hitting treak
• Trejo had reached base in 16 straight games, a team-high this season, Federe is at 15
• 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 ranks third in ERA in the MW at 1.27 and sophomore Jenny Bressler ranks fourth at 1.43
• Burke is also second in the conference in opposing batting average (.179), while Bressler is third in .188
• Bressler had a stellar weekend at the Boyd Gaming Classic, going 3-0 with a 0.47 ERA, two complete game shutouts and 15 strikeouts
• 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 links are available at UNLVRebels.com. Video is available for the two games against Grand Canyon. Live updates can also be found by following @UNLVSoftball on twitter.