April 23, 2002

21-22, 7-11 Mountain West Conference
14-9 HOME, 3-11 AWAY, 4-2 NEUTRAL

PROBABLE PITCHERS
Wednesday: Jared Bonnell RHP (3-3, 7.50 ERA)
Friday: Robbie Van LHP (4-5, 5.54)
Saturday: TBA
Sunday: TBA

UNLV REBELS

UNLV is coming off a 2-1 series victory at Utah over the weekend. Inclement weather pushed a pair of games to Monday, where the Rebels lost 3-1 in seven innings, but came back in the rubber match for a 7-4 victory.

In three-games against Southern Utah this season, the Rebels have six players hitting .500 or better, led by David Trujillo. Trujillo is hitting .636 (7-for-11) against the Thunderbirds with two home runs and a double for a 1.273 slugging percentage.

David Seccombe has two appearances (6.0 innings) against Southern Utah and has yet to give up a run. He has allowed only four hits and struck out nine.

SOUTHERN UTAH THUNDERBIRDS

After dropping three straight to the Rebels, the Thunderbirds traveled to the state of Michigan to take on Oakland University where they split a four-game set at two apiece. Southern Utah's record now stands at 7-27 overall.

With three victories over the Thunderbirds earlier this season, the Rebels now hold a 77-14 series advantage.

INJURY UPDATE

Nothing relevant to report.

JOHNSON DOUBLES

With a MWC leading 21 doubles (.49 per game), Brent Johnson is on track to tie or break the school record for doubles in a season if he continues at his current pace. With an anticipated minimum of 58 games (56 regular season and two conference tournament games), Johnson would finish with 28.3 doubles.

The current record is held by Bill Max, who hit a nation-leading 28 doubles in 1981.

ROAD WOES

UNLV is in the midst of a 10-game road swing that began with a three-game stand at Utah over the weekend. The Rebels are 3-11 this season on their opponents' home fields. On a neutral field, UNLV is 4-2.

HITTING STREAKS

The longest hitting streak of the season belongs to Brent Johnson at 13, while Garett Shitanishi, David Trujillo and Robert VanKirk each had 10-game hitting streaks at one point.

Three Rebels, Trujillo, Ryan Ruiz and Joe Wickman have five-game hitting streaks heading into the game at Southern Utah.

SEASON OF THE BALK

Through 40 games this season, the Rebels have already been called for 23 balks. Fourteen 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 36 balks on the season, 23 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 EARNS MWC HONORS

Brent Johnson was named the Mountain West Conference Player of the Week on March 6 and April 1.

For the week of 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.

Johnson earned his second weekly honor after going 8-for-14 (.571) and helping UNLV post a 3-1 record, including a three-game sweep over New Mexico. In the first contest, Johnson was 3-for-5 with a triple and four RBI in an 11-5 win over the Lobos. In game two, Johnson went 3-for-3 with two doubles and three RBI in a 23-2 victory. He helped the Rebels complete the conference sweep by going 2-for-4 in a 15-6 win in game three. Johnson was also 2-for-3 in stolen bases and played error free from the center field position.