REBELS VISIT UTAH STATE FOR FINAL ROAD MW SERIES
UNLV and Utah State will play a three-game Mountain West series beginning on Friday, April 25 at 3 p.m. PT
The UNLV softball team will play its final road Mountain West series this weekend visiting Utah State for three-games beginning on Friday, April 25 and concluding on Sunday, April 27.
SCHEDULE:
Friday, April 25 – UNLV at Utah State at 3:00 p.m. PT/4:00 p.m. MT
Saturday, April 26 – UNLV at Utah State at 11:00 a.m. PT/12:00 p.m. MT
Sunday, April 27 – UNLV at Utah State at 11:00 a.m. PT/12:00 p.m. MT
UNLV vs. UTAH STATE
All-time vs. UTAH STATE: 40-30
Streak: Won 3
Last meeting: Last season, UNLV completed a three-game sweep over Utah State in Las Vegas. The three-game series included a 14-13 nine inning victory and a 12-3 run-rule five inning win.
BROADCAST INFO: All Mountain West series will be streamed on theMW.com/watch. Links to the stream and live stats links can be found on UNLVrebels.com.
NEXT UP: The Rebels will close out the Mountain West regular season at home hosting New Mexico for three-games beginning on Thursday, May 1 and concluding on Saturday, May 3. UNLV will honor its four seniors: Karmyna Becerra, Ariana Martinez, Sofia Morales and Destinee Noury all weekend.
LAST TIME ON THE FIELD: The UNLV softball team split the two-game MW series against San Jose State 1-1. The Rebels took game one 2-1 in a walk-off victory in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Spartans claimed game two with a 4-3 win. In game one, the Rebels and Spartans were scoreless for seven innings to force an extra inning. In the eighth, both sides were held off the scoreboard again. It wasn’t until the top of the ninth inning, when San Jose State scored the game’s first run on an RBI single to right center, but the Rebels countered with a two-run single to left by Charelle Aki to collect the victory. Jesse Farrell, Aki, Bri Williams and Maddie Scott each had a hit against San Jose State on the day. Yanina Sherwood went the distance throwing a complete game of a career-high 9.0 innings to collect her ninth victory of the season. Sherwood only allowed one earned run and struck out five Spartans.
In game two, UNLV was unable to complete the comeback and fell short, 4-3. The Rebels tied the game 1-all against the Spartans in the bottom of the third inning and were within one in the bottom of the fifth, but were unable to capitalize on a two-out rally in the bottom of the seventh. Ariana Martinez, Jesse Farrell and Sofia Morales were the offensive leaders for the Scarlet & Gray. Martinez was 2-for-3 with three RBI, a home run and a run scored. Farrell was also 2-for-3 on the day, which included two runs scored, a double and a walk. Morales was 2-for-4 against San Jose State.
SCOUTING UTAH STATE: Utah State heads into the weekend with a 25-20 overall record and a 10-6 MW record. The Aggies are coming off a 2-1 series loss against UNR. However, Utah State claimed game three of the series 14-4 in five innings. The Aggies are led by Ariel Fifita who is batting a .400 to go with a .720 slugging percentage and a .513 on-base percentage. Giselle Gonzalez is the home run and RBI leader for Utah State with 16 homers and 58 RBI. On the pitching side, Rylie Pindel leads the staff with a 4.87 ERA and an overall record of 10-1.Pindel has made 31 appearances and has pitched 79 innings. Emmalyn Brinka leads the Aggies’ pitching staff in innings pitched (92.0) and strikeouts (52).
QUEEN OF RBI: Senior infielder Ariana Martinez became the new program leader for career RBI with 196 and counting. As she headed into the UCSB Tournament, she was only three RBI away from the top and in just the second game of opening day of the tournament, she hit a two-run home run against Creighton to take over as the career RBI leader.
350 CAREER WINS: Head coach Kristie Fox collected her 350th career win on Feb. 14, 2025 in the 4-3 victory over Idaho State in the opening game of the UNLV Rebel Classic. Fox currently has an overall head coaching record of 366-275 and an UNLV head coach recording of 232-138. Fox collected her 200th win at the helm of the Rebels last season on March 28, 2024 in the 7-3 victory over Utah State.
LAST YEAR: The Rebels had an overall record of 31-19 including a 14-8 MW record and a trip to the MW Championships. Maddie Scmidt was named MW Defensive Player of the Year. Ariana Martinez picked up All-MW first team honors and Schmidt and Ellie Zellien garnered All-MW second team honors.
MOUNTAIN WEST PRESEASON: UNLV is predicted to finish fourth in the Mountain West this season. The whole list is as follows: 1. San Diego State; 2. Fresno State; 3. Boise State; 4. UNLV; 5. Nevada; 6. Colorado State; 7. Utah State; 8. New Mexico; 9. San Jose State.
Senior Ariana Martinez and sophomore Jesse Farrell were named to the preseason All-MW team.
REBELS’ SQUAD: UNLV returns 6 letterwinners, including three position starters. All-Mountain West and NFCA All-West selection Ariana Martinez returns along with NFCA All-West recipient Jesse Farrell and Sofia Morales. Charelle Aki, Kailani Olivas and Bri Willams also return to the Rebels this season. UNLV welcomes 15 newcomers to the squad which include: freshmen Gwyn Burnett, Jazmine Chavez, Mantha Hatzenbeller, Kamryn Messick and Yanina Sherwood; sophomores: Ellie Bostedt, Bri Hamilton, Brooke Pisciotta and Sage Vandemark; juniors: Maddie Scott, Diamond Sefe, Maggie Vasa and Amelia Weber; senior Karmyna Becerra and graduate student Destinee Noury.
The Rebels bring back three of the top-five hitters from last season which includes Martinez, Farrell and Morales. Martinez led the squad with a .396 batting average, and posted team-highs in doubles (15), RBI (51), slugging percentage (.708) and on-base percentage (503). Farrell hit .359 with 12 doubles and a team-high 11 home runs. Farrell also had 46 RBI and the second-highest slugging percentage with a .683. Morales started all 50 games last season and batted a .350 with three doubles and two triples. Morales also had 19 RBI.