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UNLV SOFTBALL NEWS: Rebels Back On The Road For Three At Colorado State

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REBELS BACK ON THE ROAD FOR THREE AT COLORADO STATE

 

UNLV has three Mountain West conference series remaining, beginning this weekend in Fort Collins

@UNLVSoftball | 2021 Schedule (Web) | Notes

Las Vegas, NV (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV softball team heads back out on the road for a three-game series at Colorado State, April 24-25. The Rebels and Rams will play a doubleheader on Saturday, April 24, beginning at 11 a.m. PT, then wrap up the series Sunday with an 11 a.m. PT first pitch.

 

UNLV is coming off a fourth Mountain West series win last weekend at home, where they took two of three from New Mexico to improve to 21-10 overall and 13-2 in conference play. The Rebels enter the weekend in second place in the standings behind Fresno State, who remained at 11-1 after its league bye week last weekend. With nine conference games remaining, including three against the Bulldogs next weekend at home, the Rebels control their own destiny on their path to winning their first Mountain West championship since joining the conference in 2000. In fact, if UNLV can finish in first, it would be just the third time in the 37 years of the program the Rebels would finish first in their league.

 

Colorado State enters the weekend at 9-15 overall and in sixth place at 3-6 in league play. The Rams took the last series between these two squads, 2-1, in Fort Collins in 2019, but UNLV won the series 2-1 in Las Vegas in Fox’s first year in 2018.

 

After the weekend in Fort Collins, the Rebels will return home for their final home conference series, hosting first-place Fresno State May 1-2 for three important games that could ultimately determine the 2021 Mountain West Champion and NCAA automatic qualifier.

 

QUICK HITTERS
• Kristie Fox is in her fourth season with a 111-49 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 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.
• UNLV’s longest losing streak this season is four, which is the second longest under Coach Fox as the Rebels just had one longer – a five-game streak in her first season in 2018
• The Rebels have won all four of their Mountain West series in 2021 (three conference wins in a fifth series were awarded via San Jose State forfeit)
• Prior to the New Mexico series the Rebels reached their highest standing in the RPI at No. 51, but dropped back to No. 66 this week after going 2-1 against the Lobos. It is still the highest position among Mountain West teams as Fresno State sits one spot behind the Rebels at No. 67 and San Diego State at No. 77
• UNLV’s series win over New Mexico was its third straight over the Lobos, while they have won seven of the last nine over UNM
• For a second straight week and a fourth time this season a Rebel earned the MW Player of the Week as Denise Armendariz earned her first career honor after going 4-for-7 (.571) with six RBI, one double and a walk. In the 5-0 game-one win, Armendariz drove in three of the five runs, then drove in three of UNLV’s four runs in the 4-2 series finale win
• Junior Jenny Bressler pitched a complete-game no-hitter in the 5-0 win over the Lobos in game one. It was the second no-hitter of Bressler’s career (first in seven-innings), while it was just the sixth since 1995
• UNLV got a major monkey off its back with their sweep in Logan, April 10-11, as the Aggies had won eight of the last 11 matchups between the squads. It was the Rebels first series win over USU since 2015 and first sweep over the Aggies since 2014
• UNLV hit 17 home runs total over the first 26, which included nine along on opening weekend, UNLV hit 10 total at USU, April 10-11, bringing their total to 27, which ranks third in the Mountain West
• After the sweep at USU, April 10-11, senior shortstop Samantha Diaz earned her second Mountain West Player of the Week of the season (third in her career) after going 6-for-10 (.600) with nine RBI and five runs scored in the three games. That included a home run in each game (one solo, one two-run and one three-run home run), marking her first dingers since she hit five on opening weekend (earning her first MW honor of the season). In the 17-0 UNLV win in five innings to complete the sweep, Diaz went 3-for-4 with five RBI, which included a three-run homer in the top of the fifth
• Under Fox, who is a San Diego native, the Rebels have won five of its last six games in San Diego, which included the program’s first-ever three-game sweep at SDSU in 2019 and the this year, the first back-to-back series wins there (no conference games were played in 2020)
• After the series in San Diego, March 27-28, the Rebels swept the Mountain West weekly awards, marking the 22nd time UNLV has earned both awards in the same week since joining the conference in 2000. Jenny Bressler was named the pitcher of the week for the third time in her career, while Justine Federe earned her second career weekly honor
• UNLV has swept Boise State and Utah State in 2021, marking the fourth and fifth sweeps in conference play in three conference seasons (2020 was canceled) under Fox, while it was the third straight series win over the Broncos since Fox took over
• UNLV ranks first in the MW with a .979 fielding percentage, which is tied for 12th in the country; the Rebels have committed just 17 errors in 31 games, which is also a league-best
• UNLV is batting .295 through 31 games, which ranks second in the Mountain West. The Rebels also rank second in slugging percentage (.455), runs scored (152), hits (238) and doubles (42) and are third in on-base percentage (.368) and runs batted in (141)
• Scoring first and early has been a recipe for success this year as UNLV is 15-3 when they score first and 15-2 when they lead after four innings
• Rebels have six players currently hitting over .300 (min. 20 at-bats) – freshman Jasmine Martin (.500), Denise Armendariz (.372), sophomore Maddie Schmidt (.350), senior Lauren Tycksen (.326), senior Justine Federe (.319), and freshman Janyssa Martin (.318)
• Schmidt has been a consistent spark for the offense in the leadoff spot. Her .350 average and 36 hits rank seventh and fourth, respectively, while her 29 runs scored ranks second. She is also tied for fifth in stolen bases with 12, while teammate and senior Lauren Tycksen ranks tied for second with 17 stolen bases.
• Heading into the weekend, Armendariz and Federe are both on eight-game hitting streaks, while Federe has a 14-game on-base streak. Schmidt, Tycksen and Trejo have also had eight-game hitting streaks in 2021. Armendariz and Tycksen also have eight-game on-base streaks going heading into Fort Collins
• Janyssa Martin has had an impressive start to her collegiate career with a .318 average, 28 hits, 14 runs scored, five doubles, four home runs and 23 RBI. 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, then topped that with a walk-off grand slam in the sixth inning against Dixie State. Against Utah State, Martin added her second grand slam of the year helping the Rebels rout USU 17-0 in five innings. Martin has 15-game on-base this streak with Tycksen coming in with the second-best on-base streak of 12 games
• Armendariz has been a consistent force at the plate with a team-high 12 doubles to go along with 13 runs scored and 20 RBI. She also added her first home run of the year – a solo shot in the fourth inning – of a 6-0 game-two win over USU on April 10. Thirteen of her 29 total hits have gone for extra bases, with her 12 doubles ranking first in the MW and tied for 20th in the country
• Senior Lauryn Tycsken and sophomore Maddie Schmidt have combined for 29 of UNLV’s 36 stolen bases in 2021 with Schmidt with 12 and Tycksen with 17
• Lauren Tycksen leads all Rebels with 11 multi-hit games in 2021, while senior Samantha Diaz has a team-best eight multi-RBI games. Diaz leads the team with 29 RBI on the season
• The Rebels have been clutch with runners in scoring position, hitting .300. Pinch-hitting has also been successful as UNLV is hitting .316 (18-for-57) in those situations
• UNLV added a fourth grand slam of the year on a Janyssa Martin grand slam in the first inning of an eventual 17-0 win over USU on April 11. The Rebels hit three grand slams on opening weekend. The four are now the most since UNLV hit four in 2011, while 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 Fox era
• The pitching staff as a whole has been solid in 2021 and lowered its ERA to under three for the first time this season after the series win at New Mexico at 2.86, which ranks second now in the Mountain West. The 11 shutouts are second in the MW and ranks tied for 20th in the country
• Bressler picked up two more wins over the weekend against New Mexico, getting the game one win with the 5-0 no-hitter in a complete-game performance, then pitched 5.0 frames in the 4-2 series-clinching win, allowing just two runs on two hits. She is now 13-5 on the year, including 8-1 in conference play
• Bressler lowered her season ERA to 1.87, which ranks third in the Mountain West. The junior has won all eight of her starts in Mountain West play, throwing complete games in six of them. Opponents are hitting just .190 off of Bressler, which ranks second in the MW, while her 111 strikeouts also rank second
• In just over two and half seasons, Bressler has now amassed 47 career wins, which already ranks seventh all-time in program history
• Senior Charlie Masterson has also been steady in the circle, going 4-3 with a 2.46 ERA and 36 strikeouts. Her best performance of the season to date came in a 6-0 game-two win over Utah State on April 10, where she pitched a complete-game shutout, allowing just four hits in 7.0 innings pitched. Masterson had another strong outing in game two against New Mexico, allowing no earned runs in a complete-game 1-0 loss where the Lobos scored on a Rebel fielding error. Masterson ended the weekend pitching 2.0 innings to earn the save in the series-clinching finale over the Lobos on April 18
• Freshman Jenna Perez has been impressive in her first collegiate season. She is 2-0 on the year with a 4.42 ERA. At the Boyd Gaming Classic, March 5-7, she won her first two collegiate starts with a 1.40 ERA, two runs allowed in 10.0 innings pitched and 13 strikeouts. In her Rebel debut, she recorded three strikeouts in one inning of relief again Southern Utah on Friday, Feb. 12
• 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 the 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 all three games in the series, with all three games being broadcast on the Mountain West Network. Links are available on www.UNLVRebels.com. Live updates can also be found by following @UNLVSoftball on twitter.

 

Summary
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UNLV SOFTBALL NEWS: Rebels Back On The Road For Three At Colorado State