6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
February 9, 1999
WHEN/WHERE: The UNLV baseball team, 2-1, will travel to No. 21 Arizona and Peperdine this week for four games. The following is UNLVs schedule over the next two weeks.
THIS WEEK:
Tuesday, Feb. 9 - UNLV at Arizona, 3 p.m. (MST), Frank Sancet Field (6,700)*Wednesday, Feb. 10 - UNLV at Arizona, 3 p.m. (MST), Frank Sancet Field*Saturday, Feb. 13 - UNLV at Pepperdine, Noon, Eddy D. Field (2,200)*Sunday, Feb. 14 - UNLV at Pepperdine, 1 p.m., Eddy D. Field*NEXT WEEK:
Tuesday, Feb. 16 - Lewis-Clark State at UNLV, 3:05 p.m., Earl E. Wilson Stadium (3,000)*Wednesday, Feb. 17 - Lewis-Clark State at UNLV, 3:05 p.m., Earl E. Wilson Stadium*Friday, Feb. 19 - Cal State Fullerton at UNLV, 3:05 p.m., Earl E. Wilson Stadium*Saturday, Feb. 20 - Cal State Fullerton at UNLV, 3:05 p.m., Earl E. Wilson Stadium*Sunday, Feb. 21 - Cal State Fullerton at UNLV, 1:05 p.m., Earl E. Wilson Stadium*RADIO: The radio home for UNLV baseball in 1999 will be KSFN AM-1140. Scott Robbs returns for his second season and will call the action all season long. The pregame show begins 20 minutes prior to the first pitch. Listen to Rebel baseball on the internet at www.radiovegas.com Click on the UNLV baseball logo.
*KSFN AM-1140 Radio
THE TEAMS: UNLV is 2-1 on the season. The Rebels won two out of three games over UCSB (Feb. 5-7) to open the 1999 season. UNLV won 9-5; lost 24-15; won 13-6. UNLV was 31-24 overall and finished with an 13-17 record (4th) in the WACs South Division last season. No. 21 Arizona is 9-0 on the season. The Wildcats swept New Mexic in a three-game series (Feb. 4-6) in Tucson. The scores were: 15-5, 5-4, 9-3. Arizona was 33-23 overall last season and 12-18 (4th) in the PAC-10 South. Pepperdine is 5-0 on the season. The Waves defeated California 3-1 (Feb. 5). They will host Cal State Fullerton on Wednesday. Pepperdine was 32-22 overall last season and 21-9 (2nd) in the West Coast Conference. Lewis-Clark State was 40-16 overall last season. LCS will open the season on Wednesday-Saturday (Feb. 10-13) at the Southern Utah Tourney. The Warriors have captured the NAIA National Championship nine times. No. 15 Cal State Fullerton is 1-2 on the season. The Titans travel to Pepperdine on Wednesday. CS Fullerton was 47-17 overall last season and 25-5 (1st) in the Big West.
THE SERIES: UNLV leads the series against Arizona 5-2. The Rebels won two games last season at Wilson Stadium on March 17-18 (6-3, 8-6). UNLV leads the series against Pepperdine 13-12. The Rebels and Waves split a two-game series last season at Wilson Stadium on Feb. 10-11. UNLV won 8-7 in 12 innings and Pepperdine won 8-7. UNLV leads the series against Lewis-Clark State 15-6. The Warriors defeated UNLV 10-4 in last season's UNLV/Coors Desert Classic on March 6. LCS has won the last four games between the two teams. Cal State Fullerton leads the series against UNLV 43-15. The two teams spilt a two-game series in Fullerton last season (Feb. 20-21). UNLV won 7-5 and CSF won 9-3.
UNLV HEAD COACH ROD SOESBE: He is in his 15th season at UNLV and his third as head coach. His career record is 57-56 (.504). Rod was named as the fourth head coach in UNLV baseball history on Sept. 10, 1996. He spent 12 seasons as the top assistant coach to Fred Dallimore. He came to UNLV in 1985 and served as the team's hitting instructor, working with the infielders and third base coach. Soesbe, on Jan. 19, 1999, was named as an assistant coach of the 1999 USA Baseball National Team. Texas A&M head coach Mark Johnson will serve as the head coach. Soesbe spent six years at Yavapai College (Prescott, Ariz.) from 1978-83 and was head coach at Lee College in Baytown, Texas, in 1984. He was twice named the Arizona Junior College "Coach of the Year" in 1978 and 1979. He was also named regional "Coach of the Year" for those two seasons.
COACHES: Jerry Stitt is in his third season at Arizona and his record is 74-49 (.602). Frank Sanchez is in his third season at Pepperdine and his record is 71-47 (.602). Ed Cheff is in his 23rd season at Lewis-Clark State and his record is 1,103-293 (.790). George Horton is in his third season at Cal State Fullerton and his record is 87-43-1 (.668).
EARL E. WILSON BASEBALL STADIUM: UNLV baseball is in its sixth season playing in the 3,000-seat Earl E. Wilson Baseball Stadium at Roger Barnson Field (27th season playing on the existing field). A gift of $1.2 million from the estate of the late Earl and Hazel Wilson was used for the construction of the Stadium. The stadium features 2,500 theater-type seats and 500 bleacher-back seats; paved parking for 400 cars; a 60-foot enclosed press box; restrooms for fans, concession areas; backstop; public address system; batter's eye in centerfield; and stadium entrance complete with handicap access (tunnel and ramp). Wilson Stadium was dedicated on Saturday, Jan. 29, 1994, prior to the UNLV Alumni Game. Jay Brown and Mel Wolzinger, co-trustees of the Earl and Hazel Wilson estate, were on hand to bring in a new era to Rebel baseball. A crowd of 2,500, the largest home crowd in UNLV baseball history, saw the UNLV Alumni defeat the varsity 15-14. The park dimensions are 335-375-400-375-335.
REBEL NOTES: UNLV will play 12 games in the first 17 days of the season. UNLV improved to 17-5 in its last 22 home openers (1978-98) with its 9-5 victory over UCSB on Feb. 5. UNLV improved to 2-4 in its six home openers since Wilson Stadium was built (lost to St. Mary's, 8-4 on Feb. 5, 1994; lost to Loyola Marymount, 10-5 on Jan. 27, 1995; defeated Utah, 9-1 on Feb. 9, 1996; lost to UCLA, 7-4 on Jan. 31, 1997; lost to Southern Utah, 11-8 on Feb. 3, 1998). The 1999 schedule is perhaps the toughest in UNLV baseball history. The Rebels will play 60 games and play 31 home games and 29 road games. The WAC will feature a one-division format. The previous two seasons (1997-98) featured a three division format which was separated according to region (North, South and West Divisions). The 11-team division (Air Force, BYU, Fresno State, Hawai'i, New Mexico, Rice, San Diego State, San Jose State, TCU, Utah, UNLV) will feature a 30-game league schedule with each team playing three games against each conference opponent. The top six teams will qualify for the WAC Tournament on Wednesday-Saturday, May 19-22, in Fresno, Calif. The 1999 schedule will feature top opponents such as: UC Santa Barbara, Arizona, Pepperdine and Cal State Fullerton over the first 17 days of the season. National power Clemson along with Creighton, UNR and Washington will participate in the 19th Annual UNLV/Coors Desert Classic on Feb. 25-28. UNLV's other top nonconference opponents will feature: Texas A&M, Cal State Northridge and Michigan in the Aggie Continental Airlines Classic on March 19-22. WAC favorite Rice is ranked 10th in the Baseball Weekly/ESPN Top 25 Preseason Coaches Poll. Other Rebel opponents who are preseason ranked are: 12th - Cal State Fullerton; 14th - Texas A&M; 16th - Clemson; 21st - Washington. UNLV will play its third and final season in the WAC. UNLV will be a member of the Mountain West Conference for the 2000 season. Six teams will play in the sport of baseball: Air Force, BYU, New Mexico, San Diego State, Utah, UNLV.
LAST SEASON: The 31 wins last season guaranteed a .500 or better season for the 20th time in the last 23 seasons (1976-98). UNLV recorded 30 or more wins in a season for the 20th time in school history. UNLV had won 30 or more games for 17 straight seasons (1976-92). UNLV entered the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll at No. 22 on Feb. 23, 1998. The Rebels were ranked No. 22 for three weeks (Feb. 23, March 2, 9). UNLV dropped out of the poll on March 16. UNLV batted .333 as a team and fielded .952 with 103 errors in 55 games.
UCSB SERIES RECAP (FEB. 5-7): The Rebels opened the 1999 season by taking two out of three games from UC Santa Barbara at Earl E. Wilson Stadium. UNLV won the season opener by the score of 9-5. Sophomore catcher Ryan Hamill led UNLV with a 3-for-4 performance. Junior right-hander Bryan Gidge recorded the victory. He pitched five innings and allowed 5 runs, 8 hits, 1 walk and struck out a career-high 7 batters. Junior right-hander Toby Harris recorded his first career save with four strong innings in relief. UCSB defeated UNLV 25-14 in the second game. The Gauchos had 19 hits as UNLV used six pitchers. Shortstop Jeff Bannon was 3-for-4 with 5 RBI for the Gauchos. Junior first baseman Tony DeMarco was 5-for-6 with 3 RBI for UNLV. The Rebels came back Sunday and took the rubber game, 13-6. UNLV received a strong relief outing from senior left-hander Billy Barker. He pitched 5 innings, allowed no runs and struck out 6, to record the victory. Junior rightfielder Ryan Ludwick led UNLV with a career-high 5-for-5 performance and tied his career-high with 4 RBI .
***ALL-AMERICAN RYAN LUDWICK*** The 1999 pre-season All-American baseball team, selected by Baseball America, was releasedon Jan. 5, 1999. UNLV outfielder Ryan Ludwick was selected as a first-team pre-season All-American. On Dec. 17, 1998, he was chosen pre-season second-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball. It marks the second straight season that he was selected as a pre-season All-American. Last season, he was chosen to the pre-season second-team by Baseball America. He becomes the sixth UNLV player in history to be selected as either a pre-season or regular season first-team All-American (Dan Murphy, 1980; Randy Ward, 1980; Matt Williams, 1986; Kevin Lofhtus, 1989; Donovan Osborne, 1989). Ludwick, a 6-foot-4 junior, returns to UNLV for his third season. He has appeared in 109 games and has a career average of .353 (155-for-439), which ranks him 11th all-time in UNLV history. He also has 35 doubles, 30 home runs and 125 RBI. Last season, he was selected to the All-WAC Second-Team. He appeared in 54 games and batted .353 with 21 doubles, 14 home runs and 57 RBI. He enjoyed an outstanding summer with the USA Baseball National Team. He appeared in 36 games and was the team's second-leading hitter with a .386 average and had 14 doubles, tied for the team lead with 9 home runs and 27 RBI. Ludwick, a local product from Durango High School, was also chosen as a 1997 First-Team Freshman All-American by Baseball America.
