ABOUT NEVADA
The Wolf Pack softball team is heading towards the regular-season homestretch of the toughest schedules in school history and so far, so good. Through 43 games, Nevada is 29-14 with wins over four ranked opponents. That includes a historic 1-0 upset over then-No. 1 Arizona at the Kajikawa Classic hosted by Arizona State and a series win (2-of-3) at then-No. 10 Fresno State.
Nevada has been stellar in Western Athletic Conference play thus far with a 7-2 mark, just a half-game behind this week’s opponent, Hawaii. Fresno State is third.
The Wolf Pack received votes in all three national polls this week and is ranked No. 24 in the Ultimate College Softball Coaches Top 25. Nevada is No. 26 in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 and the Wolf Pack is No. 30 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25.
The Wolf Pack is coming off a bye weekend as the team has not played since a brilliant road trip to Central California two weeks ago. Nevada beat Pacific 3-0 in non-league action before taking two of three at then-No. 12 Fresno State. Sophomore Katie Holverson was dominant in the circle, earning her second career WAC Pitcher of the Week award.
Nevada returned the bulk of last year’s team that went 28-31 overall and came within a game of making it to its second-straight NCAA Tournament. Nevada brought back 15 letterwinners, all eight starters and its top two pitchers from last year’s team. Senior pitcher Jordan McPherson was named the Preseason Pitcher of the Year in the Western Athletic Conference this season. She was joined on the All-WAC Preseason Team by junior outfielder Brittany Puzey, who was an All-West Region selection in 2007. The Pack added four freshmen to the mix this year and the other newcomer is senior pitcher Richelle Villescas, a transfer from Temple. The Pack is coached by Michelle Gardner in her sixth year overall and at Nevada.
ABOUT THIS WEEKEND
The University of Nevada continues the 2008 campaign with a Western Athletic Conference showdown amongst ranked teams as No. 15 Hawaii comes to Christina M. Hixson Park. The Wolf Pack and the Rainbow Wahine will play a doubleheader on Saturday and finish up the series with a single game on Sunday. First pitch both days is at 2 p.m.
Live Stats of all three games will be available on the Internet at www.nevadawolfpack.com.
Tickets are $7 per day. Discounted tickets of $4 are available seniors (65 and older). This weekend only, children (can get into Hixson Park for a special price of $2.
SCOUTING HAWAI`I
Hawaii enters the series with a 31-11 overall record and a 7-1 mark in Western Athletic Conference play. The Rainbow Wahine are ranked 15th, 16th and 18th in the three national polls. They have won 11 games in a row dating back to March 24, when they suffered their only WAC loss, 4-1 to New Mexico State.
The Rainbow Wahine were picked to the win the league in the WAC Preseason Coaches Poll, two spots ahead of Nevada. They are coached by Bob Coolen, who has 700 wins in his 21-year coaching career, including more than 600 in 15-plus years at Hawaii. Hawaii is led offensively by Kate Robinson, who sports a .388 batting average with 14 home runs and 38 RBI on the season. Robinson was picked as the WAC Preseason Player of the Year. In the circle, Courtney Baughman and Robinson have each collected 13 wins on the year and are part of a team pitching effort that has put up a 1.66 earned-run average.
Hawaii leads the all-time series between the teams, 14-10. Nevada lost five regular-season meetings to Hawaii last year before beating the Wahine in the WAC Tournament to advance to the championship game.
The complete game notes can be found by clicking the PDF link above.
