LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) — Utah State visits UNLV as second and third place, respectively, in the Mountain West Conference standings meet for a three-game series at Eller Media Stadium this weekend.

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month and UNLV softball is using the weekend to draw awareness and education about child abuse and neglect. Blue "Pinwheels for Prevention" and blue ribbons will be provided to fans and information from the Nevada Institute for Children's Research and Policy (NICRP) and other organizations will be distributed.

The series begins Friday at 6 p.m. Saturday's first pitch is 3 p.m. and Sunday's game begins at 11 a.m.

Game Promotions

Friday is also Strike Out Cancer Night and fans can collect a pink rally towel while supplies last. Ceremonial first pitches will be thrown by cancer survivor and UNLV softball athletic trainer Katie Draschner and Bri Aragon, SafeNest community volunteers manager.

Saturday is the Super Hero Game including a first pitch from Wendy Losada, Signs of HOPE bilingual program manager. 

Sunday is Country-Western Day and fans will be able to collect UNLV bandanas, while supplies last. Sunday also means Spring Cleaning as fans are invited to donate gently-used items and receive a previous UNLV Athletics promotional giveaway item.

Tickets

Single-game tickets for Friday's game are $6 in advance and $10 each on the day of the game which can be purchased at UNLVTickets.com or by calling 702-739-FANS. All UNLV students, Nevada high school students (with high school ID) and children 12 and younger receive free admission.

Broadcast info

All games of the series will be streamed live on the Mountain West Network via its official app or online at TheMW.com/watch. Wyatt Tomcheck will be on the call for play-by-play. 

UNLV vs. Utah State

• All-time vs. Utah State: 33-24
• Streak: Won 3.
• Last meeting: UNLV swept Utah State in Logan last season.

At the peak

UNLV leads the Mountain West Conference in batting average, RBIs and on-base percentage. Four Rebels are in the conference's top-15 individual batters. April Visser's 14 home runs rank second in the league.  Jenny Bressler's 17 wins and six shutouts in the circle also top the rankings.

Here comes the boom

UNLV has one of the best offenses in its history and is challenging for four single-season team records:

UNLV has hit 52 home runs, two shy of the team's single-season record of 54 set in 2011.

Its current .316 team batting average would be third-best all-time (.323, 2010) and the best since 2014 (.318).

The team's .528 slugging percentage and .412 on-base percentage would also set records. The 2011 squad batted .520 and .408, respectively.

Impact player

April Visser's first year as a Rebel will rewrite the record books. The transfer has sights set on the program's single-season home run record as well as two others. 

Visser has been hit by pitches 10 times this season, which is two shy of UNLV's single-season record (12; Tayler Van Acker, 2013).

Visser's .527 slugging percentage would also be a single-season record if the season finished today. Kim Rondina holds the top spot at .521 in 1997.

Not to be outdone

While the offense takes headlines, ace Jenny Bressler is moving up in UNLV's record books as well.

Bressler's five saves match the single-season record set by Jacque Kerrigan (2006). Another save this season will give Bressler sole possession of both the UNLV single-season and career saves records.

Bressler's two no-hitters are second-most in a single season (3; Lori Harrigan, 1992) and her four career no-hitters are second to Lori Harrigan's six (1989-92).

Homers on range

With 40 games played and 12 games remaining, senior second baseman April Visser is on pace to break UNLV's single-season home run record. Visser has slugged 14 home runs, the most in the Mountain West Conference. UNLV's single-season home run record was set by Marissa Nichols, who hit 18 in 2005.

RBI: record-breaking index

Senior first baseman Mia Trejo is 10 RBI shy of matching UNLV's career record of 171 set by Kim Rondina (1994-97). Trejo also has a chance to break Rondina's career on-base percentage record and Tayler Van Acker's (2011-14) hit-by-pitch record by season's end.

A perfect circle

UNLV senior Jenny Bressler (12-4) pitched the second-ever perfect game in UNLV history, striking out eight of 15 batters faced in UNLV's 8-0 five-inning run rule of UNR on March 19. It was Bressler's 18th career shut out.

Bressler also matched UNLV's career record with her 11th save in an 8-7 victory versus San Diego State on Saturday, April 9.