Rebels beat Loyola, Drake in doubleheader

March 2, 2009 by Sean Jaramillo 

UNLV softball wins two, loses to Florida Atlantic

The UNLV softball team swept a double-header on Saturday and the second game was a dominant effort as they defeated Loyola Marymount by a score of 8-0. The game was stopped after five innings due to the eight-run mercy rule.

UNLV (12-7) defeated Drake University 4-3 in the first game of the double-header.

The winning pitcher of the game was Traci Odegard, who pitched a four hit, five-inning shutout, her third of the season. Odegard improved to 5-4 overall. 

She said that one of her biggest comforts on the field is having support from the offense and defense.

“It feels amazing knowing that the defense will back me up,” Odegard said. “In this game, it’s all about trust and being able to trust your teammates.”

The Lady Rebels got off to a quick start by getting a double play in the top of the fourth and they followed it up in the bottom half of the inning with a lead-off home run from left fielder Marissa Nichols.

The scoring stalled on both ends until the bottom of the third inning when UNLV went off for six runs on four hits, three walks and an error at first base. Errors played a big part in the game as Loyola Marymount committed four in the game, three of which were at the second base position.

“Our whole strategy was to put the ball in play,” UNLV head coach Pete Manarino said. “We have hitters at every position and that puts pressure on the opposing teams.”

The game stayed still at 7-0 through the middle of the fifth inning but the Lady Rebels were able to finish the game for good when shortstop Jaci Hull drove in center fielder Brittany Bollinger with a walk-off triple.

“My thought going into the last at bat, was to just get the last run across,” Hull said. “We had a rough game with [Loyola Marymount] last year so we definitely wanted to take them this year.”

UNLV is going through many changes this season, with a new manager and a young lineup, but the team remains confident that they can succeed this year.

“There are multiple tough teams in the conference this year,” Hull said. “But if we stay relaxed and confident we have the ability to do well.”

The Rebels were unable to pick up a sweep. In the tournament’s final game, the Rebels lost to Florida Atlantic, 5-4.

Manarino believes these tournaments early in the year will be a great help in the long run.

“We are going to try to get better as a team in preseason and take things one game at a time to build to be successful,” said Manarino.