March 20, 2002
PROBABLE PITCHERS
Friday: Courtney Hall RHP
Saturday: Jared Bonnell RHP
Sunday: Robbie Van LHP or Giovanni Pupo LHP
UNLV REBELS
UNLV (10-13) ends a 10-day layoff after dropping the opening series of conference play to BYU. The Rebels played six games in five days, which included a 1-2 showing at the Bob Schaefer Memorial Tournament in Tempe, Ariz.
Last season's Freshman All-American Brent Johnson has vaulted into the top spot on the Rebels' offensive stat sheet. He hit .400 over the weekend and is now batting .330 on the season.
UTAH UTES
The Utes were swept by New Mexico last weekend in Albuquerque, 13-9, 20-11 and 13-12. Utah had won four straight entering conference play, taking two games each over both Washington and Southern Utah.
Utah is hitting .316 as a team, led by senior Adam Castleton's .408 average. Senior Ryan Reisbeck is 2-0 with a 4.42 ERA in seven appearances.
UNLV holds a 49-23 series advantage over Utah. The two teams split 3-3 last season, each taking two games at home and one on the road.
EASTER EGG HUNT
Following the game on March 31, the UNLV marketing department will put together an Easter egg hunt at the stadium. The Easter festivities are open to kids ages 12 and under.
INJURY UPDATE
Reliever Jake Gann is still rehabbing after Tommy John surgery over the summer. The team hopes to have him back mid-way through conference play.
HITTING STREAKS
Brent Johnson continued to swing the bat well and enters the Utah series with a 10-game hitting streak. He also vaulted Eric Nielsen for the team's top batting average at .330.
Two other Rebels, Eric Nielsen and David Trujillo, enter the series with two-game streaks.
The longest hitting streaks of the season belong to Johnson, Garett Shitanishi and Robert VanKirk. All had 10-game hitting streaks at one point.
SEASON OF THE BALK
Through 23 games this season, the Rebels have already been called for 17 balks. Eleven of those have been called at Earl E. Wilson Stadium. UNLV committed only five balks all last season and racked up a combined total of just 15 over the last four seasons.
The Rebels' opponents also have 19 balks on the season, 13 of which came at Wilson Stadium.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
The Rebels will play 17 games against teams that participated in the 2001 NCAA Baseball Championship, including Arizona State, Cal-Berkley, Cal-State Fullerton, Oklahoma State and BYU among others. The first 20 games for the Rebels proved to be the most challenging as 14 of their opponents during that stretch are ranked in the top 30 of the Collegiate Baseball Preseason Poll.
Each season also brings the tough grind of Mountain West Conference play. The Rebels will play home-and-home, three-game series against five conference foes for a total of 30 conference games.The conference tournament, to be held this year in Provo, UT, will decide the conference's automatic bid into the 2002 NCAA Baseball Championship.
BASEBALL AMERICA
Baseball America predicts UNLV will finish third in the Mountain West Conference this season, behind first place BYU and second place San Diego State.
Other preseason conference honors include Brent Johnson as the Best Defensive Third Baseman and Robbie Van with the Best Breaking Ball.
AUTOMATIC BID
Twenty-nine conferences receive an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. 2001 marked the first season the Mountain West Conference received an automatic bid. The winner of the MWC Championships, held in Provo, Utah May 22-26, will receive the automatic bid.
CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
The 2002 Mountain West Conference Baseball Championship will be hosted by BYU in Provo, Utah. All six Mountain West Conference teams will compete in the double-elimination tournament May 22-26. 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 Ron Christian at the MWC office or BYU Baseball Contact Ralph Zobell prior to the event.
JOHNSON PLAYER OF THE WEEK - MARCH 6
Brent Johnson was named the Mountain West Conference Player of the Week on March 6.
Johnson helped lead the Rebels to a 3-1 record and a berth in the championship game of the Clash of the Conferences Tournament in Lancaster, Calif. He hit .471 with a .705 slugging percentage. He did not strike out once in 17 at-bats and played four complete games without an error. He finished the weekend with two stolen bases and earned a place on the Clash of the Conferences All Tournament Team.
