LAS VEGAS. (UNLVRebels.com) - After a stellar opening weekend of the 2021 season, the UNLV softball team (4-1) will be home for a second straight week, hosting the UNLV Desert Classic, February 19-21, at Eller Media Stadium.
The Rebels will welcome a pair of familiar foes in Cal Baptist and Weber State and an old conference rival in Pac-12 member Utah. UNLV swept Cal Baptist in April of 2019 in Las Vegas, while the Wildcats and Rebels will be facing off for the fifth straight year, with UNLV winning five straight in the series. The Rebels and Utes previously met every year as league foes until Utah left the Mountain West for the Pac-12 after the 2011 season, but have only faced each other one since then, in 2015.
The Scarlet and Gray will play five more games on the second weekend of 2021, two each against Weber State and Utah and one against Cal Baptist. UNLV opens the weekend at 3 p.m. Friday against Weber State, followed by a 5:30 p.m. matchup against Cal Baptist. On day two, UNLV and Utah, who comes into the tournament at 5-1 and receiving votes in both major polls, will meet in a 3 p.m. matchup with the night cap featuring UNLV and Weber State at 5:30 p.m. UNLV will conclude the weekend a second contest against the Utes at 11 a.m. on Sunday morning. All tournament games will be livestreamed on Youtube.
The Rebels went 4-1 in impressive fashion on opening weekend with all four wins coming by way of run rule. The offense was the star of the show, hitting .353 with 37 runs and nine home runs - all of the multi-run variety. The nine blasts in five games are especially impressive considering the Rebels had 17 total in 26 games last spring. That total also included three grand slams by three different players - senior
Justine Federe, freshman
Janyssa Martin and senior
Samantha Diaz - with Diaz accounting for five of the nine home runs by herself. The Rebels hadn't hit a grand slam during the
Kristie Fox era, having not hit one since 2017.
The Rebels will be off next weekend then remain home for their third and final home non-conference tournament, the Boyd Game Classic, March 5-7.
QUICK HITTERS
•
Kristie Fox is in her fourth season with a 94-40 record, six wins shy of reaching the 100 win mark at UNLV
• Her 90 wins through her first three seasons are third-most among all-time UNLV softball coaches
• The Rebels have started 4-1 or better three of Fox's four years at the helm
• UNLV hit .353 as a team on opening weekend, first in the conference and 16th in the country, with 12 different Rebels registering at least one hit, eight at least two and four with five or more
• Senior
Samantha Diaz had a career weekend at the plate, hitting five home runs (two two-run homers, two three-run homers and first career grand slam) to go along with 13 RBI and six runs scored. One three-run homer came against Dixie State for the walk-off fifth inning win, while the grand slam tied the game up at five against Southern Utah on Sunday. Diaz earned her second career Mountain West Player of the Week award for her performance
• Diaz wasn't the only impressive performance at the plate. Freshman
Janyssa Martin had one of the best Rebel debuts in recent memory. In four games, the right fielder hit .727 with eight hits, seven RBI, two home runs, a double and five runs scored. In her first career at-bat she blasted a two-run home, then topped that with a walk-off grand slam in the sixth inning Sunday against Dixie State for her second home run of the season. Martin currently ranks ninth in the country in batting average and tied for 10th in hits.
• Speedy sophomore leftfielder
Maddie Schmidt, the leadoff hitter for the Rebels, had a sneaky stellar weekend, collecting seven hits, seven runs scored and on double
• Seniors
Mia Trejo and
Justine Federe accounted for the other two home runs, with Trejo hitting a three-run shot in her first at-bat of the season in the opener against Southern Utah and Federe blasting her first career grand slam in the very next inning
• In addition to
Janyssa Martin, two other freshman registered their first career hits -
Jasmine Martin and
Alyssa Lopez
• Junior
Denise Armendariz, who missed the first month of 2020 with an injury and was just getting back in the lineup when the season was canceled, had a strong start to 2021 going 6-for-11 with three doubles as the starting designated player
• Multiple players will enter the weekend with hitting streaks on the line. Armendariz and Diaz both enter with a five-game hitting streak, while
Janyssa Martin has a four-game streak and
Maddie Schmidt has as three-game streak
• The Rebels were clutch with runners in scoring position, hitting .357, while they were also productive with two outs, hitting .324
• The three grand slams on opening weekend matched the most since UNLV had three during the entire 2015 season and is just the ninth time since joining the Mountain West in 2000 the Rebels have had three or more in a season. Federe's friday grand slam was the first during the
Kristie Fox era
• Junior ace
Jenny Bressler was her usual reliable self in the circle. She went 3-1 with 2.44 ERA and 17 strikeouts. In the three wins, Bressler allowed just one run on seven hits, including a season-high eight strikeouts in Sunday's win against Dixie State. Her three wins are tied for first in the country and her 17th strikeouts are tied for 17th
• Freshman
Jenna Perez had a strong debut in the circle, pitching 4.1 innings in relief, allowing just one run on two hits for a 1.62 ERA and five strikeouts. In her Rebel debut, she recorded three strikeouts in one inning of relief again Southern Utah on Friday, Feb. 12
• The Rebels were picked to finish second in the Mountain West Coaches Preseason Poll - their highest predicted finish since 2012 and just the fourth time since they joined the conference in 2000 they had ranked higher than third in the annual poll
•
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, is in third season after leading the pitching staff to the top ERA in the conference each of the last two seasons
LIVE STATS/UPDATES
Live stats and links to video for all five games are available at www.UNLVRebels.com. Live updates can also be found by following @UNLVSoftball on twitter. Please visit the UNLV Desert Classic Tournament page for the full weekend schedule and tournament info: https://unlvrebels.com/feature/2021UNLVDesertClassic
