Jan. 24, 2000

WHEN/WHERE: The UNLV baseball team will open the 21st century with a three-game series against Saint Mary's at Earl E. Wilson Stadium at Roger Barnson Field (3,000). The following is UNLV's schedule over the first two weeks of the season.

RADIO: The radio home for UNLV baseball in 2000 will be KSHP AM-1400. Scott Robbs returns for his third season and will call the action all season long. The pregame show begins five minutes prior to the first pitch. A total of 25 games will be broadcast during the season which will consist of Saturday and Sunday games.

THIS WEEK:
Saturday, Jan. 29 - Saint Mary's at UNLV, 1:05 p.m., Earl E. Wilson Stadium (3,000)*
Sunday, Jan. 30 - Saint Mary's at UNLV, Noon, Earl E. Wilson Stadium
Monday, Jan. 31 - Saint Mary's at UNLV, 1:05 p.m., Earl E. Wilson Stadium

NEXT WEEK:
Friday, Feb. 4 - Southern Utah University at UNLV, 3:05 p.m., Earl E. Wilson Stadium
Saturday, Feb. 5 - Southern Utah at UNLV, 1:05 p.m., Earl E. Wilson Stadium*
*KSHP AM-1400 Radio

THE TEAMS: UNLV was 27-34 overall last season and finished with a 16-14 record (4th) in its third and final season in the WAC. UNLV advanced to the WAC Tournament and lost to San Jose State and to No. 1 Rice. The Rebels return 13 players which include three starters. Seniors Harold Betts (catcher), Tony DeMarco (third base), and Nate Kaup (outfield). The Rebels return five pitchers which include senior right-hander Andy McCulloch, who returns for his fourth season. Junior right-hander Luke Anderson and sophomores Joe Maruffi (right-hander), Chad Harris (left-hander) and Ryan Olson (left-nander) round out the returnees on the mound. Saint Mary's was 22-32 overall last season and 14-16 (3rd) in the West Coast Conference. The Gaels opened the season with a three-game series at No. 19 Arizona (Jan. 21-23). Arizona defeated Saint Mary's two out of three games. Arizona won 11-2, Saint Mary's won the middle game, 4-3, and Arizona won the rubber game, 5-2. Southern Utah was 14-35 overall last season. The Thunderbirds will open the 2000 campaign in Las Vegas.

THE SERIES: UNLV leads the series against Saint Mary's 12-11. The two teams last met in the 1994 season. The Gaels won two games (8-4 and 4-2 in 11 innings) to welcome the grand opening of Wilson Stadium. UNLV leads the series against Southern Utah 71-13. The Rebels and Thunderbirds split two games last season. UNLV won 19-16 (March 15) in Las Vegas and Southern Utah won 13-5 in Cedar City (April 19).

UNLV HEAD COACH ROD SOESBE: He is in his 16th season at UNLV and his fourth as head coach. His career record is 82-89 (.479). 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. In the summer of 1999, he had the distinction of serving as an assistant coach of the USA Baseball National Team under Texas A&M head coach Mark Johnson. 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: John Baptista is in his second season at Saint Mary's and his record is 23-34 (.404). Dave Powell is in his first season at Southern Utah University.

EARL E. WILSON BASEBALL STADIUM: UNLV baseball will begin its seventh season playing in the 3,000-seat Earl E. Wilson Baseball Stadium at Roger Barnson Field (28th 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: The Rebels open the 2000 season with a 10-game homestand. Following Southern Utah, UNLV will host No. 4 (by Collegiate Baseball) UCLA on Feb. 11-13 and Lewis-Clark State on Feb. 15-16. UNLV is 17-5 in its last 22 home openers (1978-99). UNLV defeated UC Santa Barbara, 9-5, in last year's home opener. UNLV is 2-4 in home openers since Wilson Stadium was built (lost to Saint 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, defeated UC Santa Barbara, 9-5 on Feb. 5, 1999). The 2000 schedule will feature 56 games with 32 home games and 24 road games. The Mountain West Conference will feature a six-team division format. The six schools which participate in baseball are Air Force, BYU, New Mexico, San Diego State, UNLV and Utah. The 30-game MWC schedule will be played with each team playing six games (home and home) against each conference opponent. The inaugural MWC Tournament will be held on Wednesday-Saturday, May 17-20, at Wilson Stadium. During the first season, the winner of the tournament WILL NOT receive an automatic NCAA Tournament bid. The 2000 schedule will feature five ranked teams in Collegiate Baseball's Preseason Top 40: No. 2 Cal State Fullerton (UNLV travels to Fullerton on Feb. 18-20), No. 4 UCLA, No. 11 Clemson (UNLV travels to Clemson on March 3-5), No. 15 USC (UNLV travels to USC on Feb. 21), No. 33 UNR. UNLV will once again host the 20th Annual Coors Desert Classic on Thursday-Sunday, Feb. 24-27. The participating teams are: Cal State Northridge, Michigan State, UNR, Oregon State, Santa Clara and West Virginia.

ALUMNI GAME: The 2000 Rebels defeated the Alumni 11-3 on Saturday, Jan. 22, at Wilson Stadium. UNLV had 15 hits and freshman second baseman Garett Shitanishi was 3-for-3 with 2 RBI, junior first baseman Trent Kitsch was 3-for-3 with 3 doubles and 3 RBI and freshman outfielder John Cruz was 2-for-5 with 3 runs scored.

LAST SEASON: UNLV was 27-34 overall and 16-14 (4th) in its last season in the WAC. UNLV had a strong offensive team 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. The team played good baseball in the tournament but lost to San Jose State and then top ranked Rice. UNLV played perhaps 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 which took them to College Station for the Aggie Classic, Rice for a WAC three-game series and four games in Hawaii, which featured a three-game WAC series against Hawai'i.