• Friday, March 12 | UNLV at #3 UCLA | 2:00 p.m. | Live Stats | Live Video
• Friday, March 12 | UNLV at #3 UCLA | 5:00 p.m. | Live Stats | Live Video
• Saturday, March 13 | UNLV at Loyola Marymount | 12:00 p.m. 
• Saturday, March 13 | UNLV at Loyola Marymount | 2:30 p.m. 
• Sunday, March 14 | UNLV at Cal State Fullerton | 1 p.m. | Live Stats | Live Video

Las Vegas, NV (UNLVRebels.com) - After playing its first 15 games in the friendly confines of Eller Media Stadium, the UNLV softball team will head out on the road for the first time in 2021, traveling to Los Angeles for five games Friday through Sunday. It will be a tough test for the 11-4 Rebels as they open the weekend with a doubleheader at No. 3 UCLA on Friday, followed by a doubleheader at Loyola Marymount and one at Cal State Fullerton to wrap up the weekend. This will be the final non-conference weekend before Mountain West play begins next weekend with UNLV hosting Boise State, March 20-21.

This weekend's opponents are a bit of a blast from the past and all three series histories date back to the mid 1980s during the first seasons of UNLV softball. The Rebels played their first two games in program history against Loyola Marymount on February 9, 1985 and faced the Bruins for the first time later that year. The history between Cal State Fullerton and UNLV is deep as the two programs first met in 1987 and faced off 63 times after that as they were both members of the Big West and battled in the 1995 Women's College World Series and 2005 NCAA Regionals.

Despite the long history, it has been five years or more since UNLV took any of the weekend's opponents, last playing LMU in 2016 and UCLA and CSU Fullerton in 2014. Against the Bruins on Friday, the Rebels will be looking for their first win against a top-five ranked opponent since they beat No. 3 Tennessee 4-3 on February 19, 2011.

The Scarlet and Gray have become accustomed to strong starts in four seasons under head coach Kristie Fox with an 11-4 record through the first 15 games for a second straight season. The Rebels have started 11-4 or better each year under Fox, including a 12-3 record in 2019.

UNLV is coming off a 4-1 weekend at the Boyd Gaming Classic, where a three-run seventh-inning walk-off comeback win against Seattle Saturday seemed to give the Rebels a spark for the remainder of the games. The Rebels battled Utah Valley in the final two games of the weekend, edging out the Wolverines 2-0 and 1-0 in a pair of shutout wins.

This weekend's action begins at UCLA Friday at 2 p.m. Both games will be streamed live online at Pac12Network.com.

QUICK HITTERS
• Kristie Fox is in her fourth season with a 101-43 record. Fox reached the 100-win mark with a 2-0 win over Utah Valley at home on March 6, 2021
• She is the fastest coach to reach the 100-win milestone at UNLV, doing it in only 143 games
• The Rebels have started 11-4 or better through the first 15 games in all four years Fox has been at the helm, including a 12-3 record in 2019
• UNLV's longest winning streak this season in four games, while it's longest losing streak is just one
• UNLV is batting .315 through 15 games, which ranks first in the Mountain West, as does its .513 slugging percentage, .403 on-base percentage, 89 runs scored, 80 RBI, 25 doubles and 15 home runs (tied for first). Their 117 hits rank second in the conference
• UNLV already have 15 home runs through 15 games after hitting a total of 17 last season in 26 games in the shortened year
• Rebels have five players currently hitting over .300 (min. 25 at-bats), with two - sophomore Maddie Schmidt and freshman Janyssa Martin, - hitting .400 or better
• Schmidt has been the consistent and steady bat in the leadoff spot, with her .413 average ranking second in the MW, her 17 runs scored ranking first, 19 hits tied for first, and her .500 slugging percentage ranking third. Schmidt has seven-game hitting streak this season already and enters the weekend in LA with a five-game streak
• Janyssa Martin has had an impressive start to her collegiate career. Her .400 batting average ranks tied for second in the MW Behind Schmidt, while her .457 on-base percentage is fourth. On opening weekend alone, 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 against Dixie State.  
• After a relatively quiet first weekend, senior Mia Trejo has been strong since, hitting .341 with 14 hits, six runs scored, two doubles and 14 RBI. Two of her three home runs came this past weekend at the Boyd Gaming Classic as she hit a two-run shot in the 10-2 win against Idaho State on Friday, then hit a two-run bomb Saturday against Seattle, helping them to the comeback win
• Mia Trejo and fellow senior Lauren Tycksen each have team-high eight-game hitting streaks this season. Tycksen will enter the weekend in LA with a 12-game on base streak, while freshman Janyssa Martin has reached base in all 14 games she played this year after not playing in the opener
• Lauren Tycksen and Janyssa Martin are tied for the team lead with five multi-hit games, while senior Samantha Diaz has a team-best six multi-RBI games
• The Rebels continue to be clutch with runners in scoring position, hitting .333, with Maddie Schmidt (.444) and Mia Trejo (.400) hitting best in those situations
• The Rebels hit three grand slams on opening weekend, matching the most since UNLV had three during the entire 2015 season. It's just the ninth time since joining the Mountain West in 2000 the Rebels have had three or more in a season. Prior to opening weekend, the Rebels had not hit a grand slam in the Kristie Fox era
• The pitching staff as a whole has been solid in 2021 with a 3.28 ERA (ranks fourth in MW), led by freshman Jenna Perez who is 2-0 with a 2.33 ERA. Her ERA ranks fourth in the MW. The freshman was impressive this last weekend, winning her first two collegiate starts with a 1.40 ERA, two runs allowed in 10.0 innings pitched and 13 strikeouts. She's also pitched 8.0 innings in relief, allowing just four runs on five hits and eight strikeouts. In her Rebel debut, she recorded three strikeouts in one inning of relief again Southern Utah on Friday, Feb. 12. Opponents are hitting just .161 against Perez, which is best in the MW
• Junior ace Jenny Bressler has already collected five wins in the season (tied for first in the league) and 47 strikeouts (third in the MW) to go along with two saves (tied for first in MW). In a complete-game 2-0 shutout over Utah Valley on Saturday night, recording a career-high 13 strikeouts. Despite getting tagged with the Friday loss to Seattle, Bressler gave up just two runs in 14.0 innings pitched with 22 total strikeouts
• Senior Samantha Diaz had a career opening 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. Diaz earned her second career Mountain West Player of the Week award on February 16 for her performance
• 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 video links will be available for both games at UCLA and Sunday's contest at Cal State Fullerton. Links are available on www.UNLVRebels.com. Live updates can also be found by following @UNLVSoftball on twitter.