Dec. 15, 1999

2000 SEASON OUTLOOK

"New Century, New Conference, A New Beginning"
Those are the items that welcome the UNLV baseball program to the new millennium. The baseball team is looking forward to the new challenges that lie ahead for the 21st century.

UNLV will be playing in its third conference over the last five seasons. UNLV celebrated its last season in the Big West in 1996 by winning the Big West Tournament, which was virtually a four-team regional with all four teams nationally ranked in the polls (Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State, UC Santa Barbara, UNLV). The 1996 season was one of the finest in UNLV's history. UNLV then entered the WAC and played there for three seasons (1997-99). UNLV announced on May 26, 1998, that it would leave the conference after the 1999 season to form a new association with seven other current WAC teams.

Joining the Rebels in the Mountain West Conference (which was named on Oct. 26, 1998) is Air Force, Brigham Young, Colorado State, New Mexico, San Diego State, Utah and Wyoming.

The Mountain West sponsors six teams that participate in the sport of baseball (Colorado State and Wyoming don't sponsor baseball). After the 30-game league schedule, UNLV will have the distinction of hosting the inaugural MWC Tournament at Earl E. Wilson Stadium on May 17-20. The winner will not receive an automatic bid to the 64-team NCAA Tournament because the MWC is only in its first year of competition. Therefore, the nonconference season becomes all the more important as the only scenario to get in to the NCAA Tournament will be as an at-large selection.

"Geographically we are all basically in the same area," UNLV head coach Rod Soesbe said. "It's going to be fun to continue the competition against San Diego State as well as the other programs in the conference. Those are good rivalries and hopefully it will draw some fans out to the ball park."

UNLV's nonconference schedule has the highest RPI (ratings percentage index) amongst the six teams in the conference. The Rebels have always played a very tough schedule during the 20th century.

"For us to get where we want to get, you have to be able to compete at that (national) level and make yourself better," Soesbe said. "What we are shooting for is to be ready for conference play and ultimately the playoffs."

The UNLV baseball program is under the guidance of fourth-year head coach Rod Soesbe. UNLV compiled an overall record of 27-34 last season and finished fourth in the WAC with a 16-14 record. UNLV had a strong offensive team last season which batted .339, which was the second highest average in UNLV history. The offense recorded a school record 771 hits and was second all-time in school history with 1,122 total bases.

UNLV qualified for the WAC Tournament in Fresno, Calif. UNLV played good baseball in the tournament but lost to San Jose State and then top ranked Rice. UNLV perhaps played its toughest schedule in school history. UNLV played 30 road games which featured a 13-game, 17-day road trip, the longest in school history. UNLV played its best baseball of the year during that stretch. They defeated nationally ranked Texas A&M in the Aggie Classic, nationally ranked Rice and defeated Hawai'i two of three to finish the marathon trip with a 7-6 record. The previous season, UNLV was 31-24 and the program has high hopes it will be very competitive in its new conference and can record another 30-plus win season.

The UNLV program is proud to boast that it has had a .500 or better season 20 times over the last 24 seasons (1976-99). The baseball program also has recorded 30 or more wins in a season 20 times. UNLV returns 13 lettermen and welcomes a lot of new faces, which includes 11 freshmen.

"I think we are going to be better in the outfield overall this season," Soesbe said. "We have some kids that can add offensively to the outfield in (Michael) Ford, (Adam) Manley and (Nate) Kaup. We also have good defensive outfielders. (John) Cruz is the best defensive outfielder.

"We have to improve defensively in the infield. (Tony) DeMarco will get the opportunity to play third base and (Trent) Kitsch will help us offensively at first base.

"We have some good arms on the staff. (Ryan) Olson is the kid that we are going to count on as our number one guy. (Justin) Fairbanks will be our number two starter. The rest of the guys on the staff have the potential to help us."

UNLV returns three starters from last season. The team will have some new faces in the starting lineup which includes a talented recruitng class.

Senior catcher Harold Betts returns for his second season. He is a solid receiver behind the plate. He appeared in 36 games last season and batted .317 (39-for-123). He cut down 32 percent of base runners attempting to steal. He won the starting job and played well over the last half of the season. He started in 23 of the last 32 games.

Senior infielder Tony DeMarco will move over to third base after playing first base and designated hitter in his first two seasons. He is one of the best pure hitters in UNLV history. He ranks as UNLV's all-time leading hitter with a .381 average (152-for-399) in 96 games. He has compiled 47 multiple-hit games in his career (25 in 1998 and 22 in 1999). He has compiled 29 two-hit games, 12 three-hit games, 4 four-hit games, 2 five-hit games. Last season, he appeared in 49 games (started 49) and batted .344 (73-for-212) with 14 doubles, 4 home runs and 49 RBI (second on the team). He hit safely in 40 of 49 games and 79 of 96 career games.

Senior outfielder Nate Kaup returns for his second season. Last season, he appeared in 49 games (started 41) and batted .345 (60-for-174) with 10 doubles, 6 home runs and 36 RBI. He compiled 18 multiple-hit games (13 two-hit games and 5 three-hit games) and his longest hitting streak was 9 nine games. He hit safely over the last eight games of the season and 16 of his last 18.

Junior catcher Brad Beasley and junior outfielder Clay Belding each return for their third seasons.

Beasley is the backup catcher and has appeared in 17 career games and is batting .457 (16-for-35). He batted .545 (6-for-11) last season in limited action.

Belding has appeared in 70 career games and has a .307 average (62-for-202). He possesses good speed in the outfield and has 17 career stolen bases in 27 attempts.

Seniors Cody Okuda, Denny Seybert and A.C. Smith round out the returning position players. Okuda will add depth to the middle infield. Seybert appeared in 19 games last season and batted .250 (14-for-56).

Smith returns for his fourth season. He has been a two-sport athlete and played three seasons (1997-99) for the football team. He has appeared in 32 games over three seasons on the diamond and will be used at first base.

UNLV, under third-year pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre, Jr., returns five pitchers: Luke Anderson, Chad Harris, Joe Maruffi, Andy McCulloch and Ryan Olson.

Anderson returns to the Rebels for his fourth season (which includes a redshirt season). He has appeared in 43 career games with a record of 1-3 in 63.2 innings pitched and has recorded 57 strikeouts. Last season, he appeared in 23 games (third on staff), all in relief, and had a 1-2 record in 37 innings pitched. He did a solid job in the set up role and set career highs in appearances, innings pitched, and strikeouts.

Harris appeared in 11 games last season as a freshman and gained valuable experience. He was 0-2 in 19.1 innings pitched and allowed 27 hits and struck out 14.

Maruffi returns his second season. He is another pitcher who gained valuable experience in his freshman season. He appeared in 12 games and posted a 3-2 record in 46 innings pitched and struck out 34. He was named to the all-tournament team of the Aggie Classic. He pitched a 7 inning complete game against Cal State Northridge on March 21.

McCulloch returns to the Rebels for his fourth season. He has appeared in 50 career games (started 20) with a record of 12-14 with a 6.26 ERA in 161 innings pitched. Last season, he appeared in 16 games (started 15, team leader) and compiled a 4-8 record in 90.1 innings pitched (second on staff and career-high) with a 5.98 ERA (third on staff).

Olson returns for his second season. He has the potential to be one of the top pitchers on the staff. Last season, he appeared in 18 games and compiled a 3-2 record in 65.1 innings pitched and struck out 45 with a 6.06 ERA. He recorded his first collegiate win against UNR in the UNLV/Coors Desert Classic on Feb. 28.

Freshman redshirt Garett Shitanishi is a potential starter at second base. He possesses speed and quickness to steal bases for the offense. He is a 1998 graduate of Reedley High School in Reedley, Calif.

UNLV will add 16 newcomers to the squad. The recruiting class consists of one senior transfer, five juniors (two transfers) and 10 freshman.

Senior right-hander Justin Fairbanks is a transfer from Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Wash. Last season, he compiled a record of 6-2 in 54 innings pitched with a 5.00 earned run average. He allowed 48 hits, 45 runs (30 earned), walked 40 and struck out 44. He won his final four decisions and posted victories over Lewis and Clark, Whitworth, Lewis-Clark State, St. Martin's twice and British Columbia.

Junior outfielder Michael Ford played two seasons at Sacramento State. He appeared in 67 career games (started 46) and batted .279 (47-for-168) with 23 runs scored, 7 doubles and 21 RBI. Last season, he appeared in 43 games (started 30) and batted .308 (33-for-107) with 5 doubles and 15 RBI.

Junior Trent Kitsch is a potential starter at first base. He is a transfer from Oklahoma State and played two seasons. Last season, the Cowboys compiled an overall record of 46-21 and advanced to the College World Series and finished the season ranked eighth in the nation. He appeared in 36 games (started 19) and batted .311 (23-for-74).

Junior Brad Maloff is a potential starter at shortstop. He and teammate Kitsch are from British Columbia, marking the first time in UNLV history that the team had two players from Canada. He played last season at College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls. He appeared in 54 games and batted .325 (53-for-163) with 52 runs and was 16-for-16 in stolen bases.

Junior outfielder Adam Manley had a tremendous 1999 season at College of Southern Idaho. He appeared in 54 games and batted .414 (75-for-181) with 75 runs scored and a team-high 20 home runs and 73 RBI. He ranked 10th in the region in batting, second in the region in home runs and fifth in the region in RBI. He was 13-for-17 in stolen bases, on base percentage of .516 and a slugging percentage of .851.

Junior C.J. Martin will add depth to the pitching staff. He played two seasons at Bakersfield College in Calif. He redshirted the 1999 season. As a sophomore (1998), he compiled a record of 1-2 with 4 saves. As a freshman (1997), he compiled a record of 4-1 and recorded 9 saves which led the state.

The 11-member freshman class features six players from the state of Nevada, which includes five local products.

Right-hander Jared Bonnell is a 1999 graduate of Durango High School. As a senior, he was 6-0 and the Trailblazers compiled a record of 35-4 and won the 1999 4A State Championship.

Outfielder John Cruz possesses good speed and is a possible starter in centerfield. He is a 1999 graduate of Reno High School.

Right-hander Nate Fouts is a local product from Bishop Gorman High School. He will add depth to the pitching staff. Last season, he compiled a record of 10-1 in 72 innings pitched and struck out 89 batters and had a 1.21 earned run average. He compiled a career record of 32-5 on the mound in 252 innings pitched and struck out 301 batters.

Jason Guerra, who is a possible redshirt candidate, is an infielder/outfielder from Eldorado High School. As a senior, he batted .447 and was named Sunrise Division all-conference honorable mention (pitcher/outfielder).

Right-hander Jeremy Lucero is another local product from Western High School. He will add depth to the pitching staff. He lettered four years for the Warriors and was named all-conference honorable mention as a pitcher in 1998.

Catcher James Nepa is a local product from Cimarron-Memorial High School and will add depth behind the plate. He lettered three years in baseball and the Spartans captured the 1999 league and zone championships. As a senior, he batted .470 with 5 home runs.

Left-hander Giovanni Pupo will add depth to the staff. A 1999 graduate of Newport High School. As a senior, he compiled a 3-1 record with a 0.86 earned run average in 23 innings pitched and allowed 16 hits and struck out 48.

Right-hander Matt Rebout possesses great size for a pitcher at 6-foot-6, 225 pounds. A 1999 graduate of Bishop Ward High School in Kansas. As a senior, he posted a 8-0 record in 49 innings pitched and a 1.08 earned run average. He was named all-state, first-team All-Metro, first-team all-league and most valuable player of his team.

Infielder Zach Strong will add depth to the middle infield. A 1999 graduate of Capital High School in Olympia, Wash. He had a two-year career average of .450 and 6 home runs.

Catcher Zach Thornton rounds out the freshman class. A 1999 graduate of Richland High School in Wash. As a senior, he batted .400 with 2 home runs.

The UNLV baseball program boasts a beautiful playing facility in the 3,000-seat Earl E. Wilson Stadium at Roger Barnson Field. Some of the top teams in college baseball have visited Las Vegas in the past and the millennium season will be no different.

UNLV will open the 2000 season against Saint Mary's on Saturday, Jan. 29. Some of the top nonconference schools that UNLV will host are UCLA (Feb. 11-13), Lewis-Clark State (Feb. 15-16), 20th Annual UNLV/Coors Desert Classic (Feb. 24-27), participating teams are Cal State Northridge, Michigan State, UNR, Oregon State, Santa Clara, West Virginia.

UNLV will travel to nationally ranked Cal State Fullerton (Feb. 18-20), USC (Feb. 21) and Clemson (March 3-5). The inaugural Mountain West Conference season will feature a 30-game league schedule with home-and-home series against Air Force Academy, BYU, New Mexico, San Diego State, Utah.

The schedule will consist of 56 games. UNLV will play 32 home games and 24 road games.