The UNLV softball team heads to Reno with momentum, hardware and a first-round bye.
The Rebels finished the regular season 31-20 overall and 18-7 in Mountain West play, good for the No. 2 seed in the Credit Union 1 Mountain West Softball Championship. UNLV opens Thursday at 6 p.m. PT in Reno against No. 3 Nevada after the Wolf Pack beat No. 6 Colorado State 10-1 on Wednesday.
It is a rematch with weight. UNLV just swept Nevada in Las Vegas to close the regular season, winning 5-3, 4-2 and 7-4. That sweep secured second place and sent the Rebels into the postseason with a three-game winning streak.
The matchup starts with offense
Nevada brings the loudest offense in the league. The Wolf Pack led the Mountain West with a .342 team batting average, 370 runs, 530 hits and 71 home runs.
Madison Clark leads the conference with a .472 average and 93 hits. Hannah Di Genova is the most dangerous power bat in the bracket, leading the league with 25 home runs, 82 RBI and a 1.482 OPS. Katelyn Wetteland also enters as one of the MW’s top hitters with a .415 average and 1.220 OPS.
UNLV is not short on bats either. The Rebels ranked fourth in the conference with a .308 average and were second in on-base percentage among tournament teams behind Grand Canyon. Keyannah Chavez sits near the top of nearly every major category, batting .438 with a .536 on-base percentage, .678 slugging percentage and 1.214 OPS.
Diamond Sefe gives UNLV another high-level on-base threat at .391 with a .503 OBP. Bri Williams reached base at a .481 clip and led the league with 21 hit by pitches, while Mantha Hatzenbeller finished with 11 home runs and a .740 slugging percentage.
Fettic gives Rebels a postseason anchor
The biggest reason UNLV has a real path is Lauren Fettic.
The freshman was named Mountain West Pitcher of the Year after becoming the first Rebel to win the award since Christine Robinson in 2007. She was also the first UNLV pitcher under head coach Kristie Fox to earn the honor.
In conference play, Fettic posted a 2.91 ERA and went 9-3 with three saves. Overall, she enters the tournament 14-8 with a 3.40 ERA across 134 innings.
UNLV will also have Yanina Sherwood available in a key role. Sherwood was named the final Mountain West Pitcher of the Week after going 1-0 with two saves in the sweep of Nevada. She allowed one hit over five relief innings in that series and struck out four.
That late-season form matters in a tournament built around short turnarounds.
Grand Canyon is the bar
Grand Canyon enters as the No. 1 seed and regular-season champion after going 21-4 in league play and 48-7 overall. The Lopes also own the league’s best ERA at 2.26 and the top fielding percentage at .975.
They are not just pitching and defense, either. Grand Canyon ranked second in the MW in batting average, runs, home runs and on-base percentage.
New Mexico gets the first shot at the Lopes after beating Fresno State 7-2 on Wednesday. The Lobos’ win was their first Mountain West tournament victory since 2005.
The tournament itself has belonged to San Diego State since the league brought it back in 2023. The Aztecs won the last three tournament titles, but they did not qualify for this year’s six-team field.
Honors and timing
UNLV enters with four All-Mountain West selections. Fettic and Chavez earned first-team honors, while Sefe and Hatzenbeller landed on the second team.
Fox also enters the postseason fresh off her 400th career win, which came in the Rebels’ 5-3 victory over Nevada on April 30.
The timing is strong. UNLV enters with clear late-season momentum and owns recent wins over both teams on its side of the bracket. Now the Rebels need to turn that form into tournament production.
Tournament road
UNLV opens Thursday at 6 p.m. PT against No. 3 Nevada in Reno.
With a win, the Rebels advance to Friday’s noon game against the winner of No. 1 Grand Canyon and No. 4 New Mexico. With a loss, UNLV would play Friday at 3 p.m. PT in an elimination game.
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Dice City Sports editor Mark Hebert covers the Vegas Golden Knights, Las Vegas Raiders, Athletics, and UNLV baseball and softball. He has 24 years of journalism experience, is also a senior reporter at Exhibit City News, and previously covered the Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers. Follow him on X or connect on LinkedIn.
