March 16, 2001
PROBABLE STARTERS
Friday - Courtney Hall RHP
Saturday - Robbie Van LHP
Sunday - Ryan Olson LHP
ABOUT SAN DIEGO STATE
San Diego State picked up a 6-5 victory over Loyola-Marymount on Tuesday. A two-out balk by Loyola Marymount's Justin Abreu with the score tied and runners on the corners in the bottom of the ninth gave the Aztecs the win.
Last season, UNLV picked up five wins in six regular season games against SDSU, including a three-game sweep of the Aztecs in Las Vegas. The Aztecs own a 29-19 all-time series advantage over the Rebels.
SDSU returned to Las Vegas, to put together an undefeated run in the Mountain West Conference tournament, defeating UNLV, BYU and Air Force to claim the inaugural MWC Championship.
HUSTLIN' REBELS
UNLV is undefeated in conference play following a three-game sweep against Air Force last weekend.
The Rebels opened the series with a 20-6 victory over the Falcons. UNLV scored twenty runs on twenty-two hits. Both are season highs for the Rebels.
Jared Bonnell pitched 3.2 innings for the Rebels to earn his second win of the season. He struck out four and did not allow a hit or a walk. Robbie Van started on the mound for the Rebels. He pitched 4.1 innings, giving up six runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts.
Jason Reuss and Brad Beasley each finished with four hits in the game. Reuss went 4-for-5 with four RBIs and four runs scored. Beasley went 4-for-5 with three RBIs and three runs scored.
Ryan Ruiz finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Garett Shitanishi, David Trujillo and Tony Schuler managed two hits each.
The Rebels picked up a 6-3 victory over the Falcons in the second game. Courtney Hall earned the win, pitching seven innings and giving up three runs on seven hits. Joe Maruffi picked up the save, pitching the final inning with one hit and a strikeout.
The Rebels, scoreless through four innings, posted five runs in the fifth. Brad Beasley reached on a double to left center, followed by a Tony Schuler walk and a Garett Shitanishi hit-by-pitch. A Brent Johnson single to right field scored both Schuler and Beasley. Johnson stole second and Shitanishi stole home for the Rebels' third run. A two-RBI Brad Hertel single to right field gave UNLV its fifth run of the inning. Trent Kitsch and Johnson both scored on the play.
UNLV posted another run in the sixth on a Johnson sacrifice fly. Schuler, who reached on a single, scored on the play.
Shitanishi finished the game 3-for-3 with one run scored. Schuler went 2-for-3 with two runs scored, while six other Rebels managed a single hit each.
UNLV moved to 3-0 in Mountain West Conference play with a 10-9 victory over Air Force on Sunday.
The Rebels were down two runs, 9-7, heading into the bottom of the ninth. Jason Reuss led off the inning with a walk. John Cruz pinch-ran for Reuss and advanced to third on a Joe Jacobitz single to right field.
Brad Hertel flew out to right field followed by a George Fletcher strikeout to put UNLV down two outs with two men on.
Ryan Ruiz reached first on an error by the shortstop, scoring both Jacobitz and Cruz to tie the game. Garett Shitanishi followed with the game-winning single to score Ruiz from second.
Doug Thornton, who came in to pitch the final out in the top of the ninth, picked up his first win of the season. He faced only one batter, a strikeout.
Ryan Olson, UNLV's top pitcher heading into the season, made his first appearance on the mound. He pitched three innings and gave up five runs on seven hits.
Jacobitz, Shitanishi and Brent Johnson all finished the game 2-for-5 from the plate. Reuss went 2-for-3 with one RBI.
AGAINST HOSEI UNIVERSITY
The UNLV baseball team played to a 2-2 tie in exhibition play against Hosei University of Tokyo, Japan.
The Rebel bullpen got a workout with seven different pitchers getting work in the nine-inning game.
Brent Johnson finished the game 2-for-4 with a single and a double. Joe Jacobitz went 1-for-4 with a triple scoring Dan Price, who reached on a hit-by-pitch. John Cruz, Ryan Hanson, Zach Strong and Garett Shitanishi all added a single hit.
Tsuyoshi Hitomi and Ryo Asai led Hosei University. Each went 2-for-4 in the game.
Hosei's pitching tandem of Satoru Fujji and Takayuki Yamamoto combined for 12 strikeouts.
UNLV Pitching:Name IP H R ER BB SODonnie Watts 2.0 3 1 1 0 1Ben Scheinbaum 1.0 0 0 0 0 0Doug Thornton 1.0 1 0 0 0 0Brad Maloff 2.0 2 1 1 0 1C.J. Martin 1.0 0 0 0 0 0Chad Harris 1.0 0 0 0 0 0Joe Maruffi 1.0 0 0 0 1 1
Hosei University Pitching:Name IP H R ER BB SOSatoru Fujji 5.1 5 2 2 1 7Takayuki Yamamoto 3.2 1 0 0 1 5
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. UNLV also hosts a two-game series against the two-time defending NAIA National Champion Warriors of Lewis-Clark State.
KITSCH RBIs
Trent Kitsch currently holds the top spot in the conference for RBIs with 30. He also shares the top spot in multiple-RBI games with eight.
Washington State (3,2), Lewis-Clark State (2,2), Kansas State (5), Clemson (2), Oregon State (4), Southern Utah (2).
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.
CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
The 2001 Mountain West Conference Baseball Championship will be hosted by San Diego State University in San Diego, Calif. All six Mountain West Conference teams will compete in the double-elimination tournament May 16-19. Seedings will be decided by regular season results in conference games.
All requests for media credentials for the Mountain West Conference Baseball Championship should be submitted in writing to Assistant Director of Communications Brett Lowder at the MWC office or SDSU Baseball Contact Dave Kuhn prior to the event.
