Locals lead UNLV softball team

The UNLV Rebels went 2-0 on Saturday at Eller Media Stadium in wins over Palomar College and the College of Southern Nevada. The Rebels ran away from the PC Comets in the first game, 13-0, but had to come back against the CSN Coyotes, en route to the 9-4 win.

In game one, the Rebels jumped out early and scored often in its game with the Comets. UNLV plated 13 runs on 18 hits, while Palomar was held scoreless and tallied only three hits.

The Rebels, playing as the visitors, struck first with a two-run single by Cajon High School graduate Laura Briones. With Jaci Hull and Kendall Fearn on base, Briones knocked her single up the middle for a 2-0 lead.

Those two runs were all that Stephanie Bregante would need, as she faced three batters over the minimum in the win. Bregante surrendered only three hits and struck out six in the shut out victory. She had two stretches of retiring seven straight. Palomar’s best scoring opportunity came in the sixth, when she opened up the frame with a walk and surrendered a single. A sacrifice bunt pushed both runners into scoring position, but she got the next two batters to pop out to end the inning.

Alyssia De La Torre extended UNLV’s lead to 4-0 with a two-run home run to right in the second. De La Torre shot scored Ashli Holland, who was on first following a single.

Jaci Hull led off the third with a solo shot to deep center that cleared the outer fence of the stadium. Holland produced two RBI later in the inning with a single up the middle to score Rosa Ordaz and Cheynah Farley.

UNLV got a run in the fifth off of a wild pitch. Fearn reached on a single and made her way to second on a fielder’s choice. She made her way home on two wild pitches.

After a scoreless sixth, Hull opened the seventh with a walk and made her way to third on a wild pitch with Fearn at-bat. Fearn proceeded to knock a single up the middle to score Hull. Ordaz followed with a double down the right line to push Fearn to third. Briones would up hitting a single to right to score Fearn for a 10-0 lead.

The Rebels scored three in the top of the seventh. Holland led off the inning with a single and moved to third on a single by De La Torre. Yucaipa’s  Brittany Bolinger hit a sac fly to center to score Holland. A wild pitch took De La Torre to second before she scored on a single by Stephanie Bean, who moved to second on an errant throw by the right fielder. Ordaz closed out the UNLV scoring with a single to right to bring home Bean.

In the second game, UNLV had a tough go from the start, but the offense awoke as the game progressed against CSN in the 9-4 affair.

CSN held UNLV scoreless in the top of the first and took a quick 2-0 lead on a home run down the left field line.

The Rebels knotted things up in the second when Paus nailed a double to left to score Briones and Farley.

The Coyotes went up 4-2 in the bottom of the second on a sac fly and a groundout.

Those four runs were the only scores that Traci Odegard would give up. Odegard was touched for four runs on five hits in the first two innings, but settled down and allowed only two hits in the remaining five frames. In all she surrendered seven hits and struck out five, while walking none.

UNLV was kept off the scoreboard in the third and fourth, but rebounded for seven runs in the final three innings. In the fifth, De La Torre hit a single to left, but the relay throw by the CSN short stop rolled out of play to let Bean and herself to score. Those two runs evened the score for the second time.

The game tilted to UNLV in the sixth when a sac fly by Paus put the Rebels up for good at 5-4. A single to right by Bean brought Ordaz in from second.

In the seventh, the Rebels added three more runs for the 9-4 advantage. Bolinger reached on a one-out single and moved to third on a steal and an errant throw. Fearn stepped up and knocked a double to center to score Bolinger after Hull walked and moved to second on a steal. The ninth run of the game scored when a ball put into play by Bean was misplayed by the CSN second baseman and rolled into right to bring Fearn home.

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Cal Baptist softball team ranked No. 2

California Baptist finds itself in a familiar place in the NAIA Softball Preseason Top 25 released Wednesday. The Lancers are in the top five again as they start the season at No. 2. Defending national champion, Oklahoma City, takes the top spot while Golden State Athletic Conference rival Point Loma Nazarene starts 2008 out at No. 3. Trevecca Nazarene (Tenn.) and Simon Fraser (B.C.) round out the top five.

The Lancers did receive one first-place vote and a total of 313 points, but the Stars received 12 first-place votes and 324 points.

Other notables in the top 25 are No. 10 Vanguard, No. 19 Biola and No. 25 Concordia.

The four-time defending Golden State Athletic Conference champions kick off their season Friday when they travel to St. George, Utah to play in the Red Rock Invitational. The Lancers will play Northwest Nazarene and Dixie State, both Friday and Saturday, with games at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. both days.

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Former Miller standout honored at Cal State Fullerton

Cal State Fullerton junior forward Toni Thomas was named the Big West Conference Player of the Week for the second time this season on Monday afternoon after helping the Titans to a pair of wins last week.

Thomas, a graduate of A.B. Miller High School, who won weekly conference honors for the fifth time in her career, shared her first award this season with Pacific’s Karen Dawkins earlier this month (Jan. 2).

The league’s leading scorer entering this week’s games averaged 18.0 points and 7.5 rebounds per contest while shooting .619 from the floor in helping Fullerton to an upset win at UC Riverside, handing the Highlanders their first and only loss in conference play thus far this season, and a road victory over Cal State Bakersfield.

Thomas had 15 points and six rebounds before fouling out late in the second half at UCR and followed that up with a stellar performance against the Roadrunners, narrowly missing a double-double with 21 points and nine rebounds while adding the game-winning basket with :09 remaining in regulation in Fullerton’s two-point victory.

The 21 points against Cal State Bakersfield marked the fourth time in the last six games Thomas has reached the 20-point mark and the eighth time overall this season.

This season, the junior forward is averaging 18.3 ppg and 7.1 rpg while shooting .507 from the field, .381 from three-point range, and .752 from the free throw line.

Winners of its last three straight, Cal State Fullerton returns home to kick-off a four-game homestand this week, hosting local rivals Long Beach State and Cal State Northridge at Titan Gym.

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