Feb. 8, 2001
PROBABLE STARTERS
Game One: Giovanni Pupo, LHP
Game Two: Courtney Hall, RHP
Game Three: Robbie Van, LHP
ABOUT UCLA
The Bruins enter the weekend at 3-2 on the season after a 10-6 win over Loyola Marymount on Tuesday. UCLA is riding a three-game win streak after a pair of victories over Hawaii last weekend.
UCLA holds a 20-12 series lead over UNLV. The Rebels took the opening game last season, 21-5, but dropped the following two, 10-1 and 6-5.
INJURY UPDATE
Ryan Olson suffered a broken ankle on the first day of practice. He took an awkward step off the mound, causing the break. He is expected to be out three weeks before he can begin throwing.
Joe Maruffi is expected to be out approximately ten days due to shoulder tendinitis.
KITSCH NAMED MLB CANADA PLAYER OF THE WEEK
UNLV senior Trent Kitsch has been named Major League Baseball Canada's Player of the Week, as the top Canadian of the 300+ currently playing baseball south of the border.
Kitsch drove in six runs as the Hustlin' Rebels took two of three games from the Washington State Cougars.
This is how Kitsch's weekend unfolded: In the UNLV season opener, Washington State pulled ahead on a grand slam in the top of the first inning. After the Rebels scored twice in the bottom half of the first, Kitsch hit a two-run triple in the third to bring UNLV within one at 5-4. The Rebels put up five in the fifth, first a two-run homer, then a walk and a pair of hit-by-pitches loaded the bases. Kitsch drew a bases-loaded walk for his third RBI of the game. The Rebels won 9-7.
In game two of the series, Kitsch hit a scoring fly ball in the first to tie the game at 1-1 and three innings later he singled to center for a run as the Rebels outlasted the Cougars for a 10-9 victory.
In the series finale, the Rebels lost to Washington State 7-6, but it wasn't for Kitsch's lack of hitting. The Cougars ran up a 7-0 lead before the Rebels and Kitsch went to work. Kitsch doubled and scored in the sixth and then picked up his second triple on the season and another RBI in the eighth. Kitsch went 2-for-4 with one RBI and two runs scored in that game.
ROD SOESBE
Rod Soesbe begins his 17th season at UNLV. On Sept. 10, 1996 he was named head coach, the fourth in UNLV baseball history. Soesbe spent 12 seasons as the top assistant to Fred Dallimore.
In the Summer of 1999, he served as an assistant coach for the USA Baseball National Team under Texas A&M head coach Mark Johnson.
The 2001 season is Soesbe's fifth as the head coach of the Hustlin' Rebels. Last season, he led the Rebels to a 24-33 record, 14-16 in the Mountain West Conference.
UNLV compiled a 43-17 record in 1996 and captured the Big West Tournament Championship with victories over nationally ranked UC-Santa Barbara, Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State. UNLV also posted the fourth highest batting average (.332) in school history that year and set single-season school records for most runs scored (550) and most runs batted in (500).
Soesbe came to UNLV in 1985 and served as the team's hitting instructor, working with the infielders and third base coach.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
The tough 2001 schedule boasts competition against four teams that ranked in the top 25 at the end of the 2000 season. No. 7 Clemson, No. 8 Nebraska, No. 17 UCLA and No. 19 Penn State are stacked on the first half of the schedule as the Rebels prepare for the grind of their second season in the Mountain West Conference.
AUTOMATIC BID
Twenty-nine conferences receive an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. 2001 marks the first season the Mountain West Conference will receive an automatic bid. The winner of the MWC Championships, held in San Diego May 16-19, will receive the automatic bid.
www.UNLVREBELS.com
The three-year-old UNLV athletics website www.unlvrebels.com was re-launched this past May with an updated look and additional features to best serve fans and media interested in the Rebels.
Originally launched in November 1997, www.unlvrebels.com has steadily expanded in both content and usership and now boasts a new graphic design that elevates it to be among the leaders in the industry.
As one of more than 80 universities that make up membership of the FANSonly Network, which is owned by Student Advantage, Inc., UNLV was chosen to be the first such site to feature a full-screen display that allows for a cleaner, brighter and more sophisticated design.
Designed for use by alumni, students, fans and media, the Rebels' home on the Internet features in-depth, updated information 24 hours a day. The site features rosters, records, historical information and biographical sketches of players and coaches in addition to any and all results since the website first premiered.
