May 14, 2001

FIRST ROUND GAMES

No. 6 Air Force vs. No. 1 BYU - 11:00 a.m.
No. 4 New Mexico vs. No. 3 Utah - 3:00 p.m.
No. 5 UNLV vs. No. 2 San Diego State - 7:00 p.m.

HUSTLIN' REBELS

UNLV enters the 2001 Mountain West Conference Tournament as the fifth seed. At 22-31 on the season, the Rebels are two wins shy of matching last season's 24-33 record.

First baseman David Trujillo leads the team offensively, hitting .377 (66-for-175). He is hitting .391 (50-for-128) in the conference. He is also in the midst of a Mountain West Conference record 28-game hitting streak.

The Rebels, as a team, began the season hitting .290 against Washington State and through the ebb and flow of the season have found their way back to that exact number. UNLV has not hit below .300 as a team since the 1994 season when the team finished the season hitting .283.

AGAINST SAN DIEGO STATE

UNLV was only able to take one game from San Diego State through the course of the regular season.

Aztec pitching limited Rebel hitting to just .181 (35-for-193) as a team with 70 strikeouts. Joe Jacobitz and Ryan Ruiz are the only two Rebels to hit over .300 against the Aztecs this season, hitting .333 and .316 respectively.

San Diego State hit .329 against Rebel pitching during the regular season. Ben Scheinbaum has been UNLV's most successful pitcher against San Diego State. In four appearances and five total innings, Scheinbaum has yet to give up a run and has allowed only two hits.

UNLV trails in the overall game series 20-34 heading into the tournament.

INJURY UPDATE

Third baseman Tony Schuler dislocated his shoulder against BYU on March 29 and will likely miss the remainder of the season. Outfielder Brent Johnson has taken over the responsibilities at third base in his absence.

TRUJILLO HITTING STREAK

Junior David Trujillo is currently riding a 28-game hitting streak. Trujillo broke the Mountain West Conference record of 25 games set by New Mexico's Scott Candelaria last season. Candelaria's collegiate career ended before the streak did.

Trujillo has picked up at least one hit in 34 of the last 35 games and 38 of the 45 games he has played this year.

San Diego State on March 16 was last team to hold Trujillo without a hit. He finished the game 0-4 with a pair of strikeouts.

Kevin Lofthus holds the UNLV record for the longest hitting streak at 34. Lofthus set the record in the 1989 season.

KITSCH RBIs

Trent Kitsch ranks 23rd in the nation with a 1.27 RBI per game average.

He currently holds the second spot in the conference for RBIs with 62. He also shares the second spot in multiple-RBI games with 18.

Versus: Washington State (3,2), Lewis-Clark State (2,2), Kansas State (5), Clemson (2), Oregon State (4), Southern Utah (2), Utah (2,2,4,3), New Mexico (2,4,2), San Diego State (2), Air Force (4,2).

Kitsch is also third in the conference in home runs with 14. BYU's Matt Carson leads the league with 16.

HIT BY PITCH

With 20 hit batters this season, RHP Courtney Hall is one hit batsman away from tying the school record set by Nate Yeskie in 1995 with 21.

FRESHMAN ALL-AMERICA ???

Starting third baseman Brent Johnson is up for Freshman All-America honors this season. Johnson made the move from the outfield to third base on April 25 and has been there since.

As an everyday player, Johnson is third on the team in average, hitting .324 (60-for-185). He leads the team in doubles (19) and stolen bases (15-for-22). He also holds the third spot on the team in RBIs with 32.

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.

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 prepared for the grind of their second season in the Mountain West Conference. UNLV also hosted a two-game series against the two-time defending NAIA National Champion Warriors of Lewis-Clark State.

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.