Thursday, Jan. 25, 2001 | 11:29 a.m.
The UNLV softball team will look to its past in an attempt to help it prepare for the immediate future when the Rebels take on their alumni this Saturday at 1 p.m. at Rebel Diamond.
Rebels head coach Shan McDonald will use Saturday's alumni game to gauge where her team stands going into its Feb. 6 season opener against St. Mary's.
"Because our season starts so soon ... if nothing else, (the game) gives us an opportunity to get on the field with our team and not play intrasquad games anymore -- and actually play against somebody," McDonald said.
"We've got some pretty good alumni -- even though some of them aren't playing competitively anymore -- so it should be a pretty good test for us."
Among the former Rebels expected to play for the alumni squad include Olympic gold medallist Lori Harrigan, Amy Stewart and Julie Crandall.
Although the Rebels are coming off a 20-41 season in which they went 3-17 in Mountain West Conference play, McDonald said she expects UNLV to be more competitive this season.
"We're pretty excited about this group," McDonald said. "We have got some tools this season that we haven't had in a while; we've got some speed and we've added to our pitching staff.
"We're hoping we can put something together that wins us a few more ballgames."
Heading the group of returning players is senior shortstop Rachel Goodpaster, who led the Rebels with a .385 average, 11 doubles, 17 home runs and 44 RBI last season.
As is the case with every other team in the nation, the Rebels' success this season will depend upon their pitching -- which, McDonald said, is vastly improved.
Juniors Geney Orris (11-18, 3.49 ERA in 2000) and Nicole Truax (8-22, 3.88) will anchor the staff, along with freshman Kacey Ellis.
"We're going to have to count that both Truax and Orris do a good job for us," McDonald said. "We're hoping that Kacey, our freshman, can come in and step right in as well. Pitching, obviously, is going to be big for us."
With the return of Goodpaster and 10 other upperclassmen, McDonald is predicting the Rebels will continue to be solid both offensively and on defense.
"Offensively, that's been pretty much a strong point for us for the last few years and that hasn't changed this year," McDonald said. "In fact, we've got a better rounded lineup than we've had in the past with some better speed and we've added a couple bats to the lineup.
"Defensively, we've made some changes and we've got some upperclassmen that are playing different positions and from what we've seen so far in practice, it has been a good move. We'll test it out a little bit this weekend and I think we'll be OK."
The Rebels will host San Diego Friday at 2 p.m. and will take on Pepperdine Sunday at 10 a.m.
The men's team, which opened its season last week with a pair of losses at Pepperdine and USC, is off until it hosts the UNLV Invitational Feb. 17-18.
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