April 25, 2002
22-22, 7-11 Mountain West Conference
14-9 HOME, 4-11 AWAY, 4-2 NEUTRAL
PROBABLE PITCHERS
Friday: Robbie Van LHP (4-5, 5.54 ERA)
Saturday: David Seccombe (2-1, 5.92 ERA)
Sunday: TBA
UNLV REBELS
UNLV is coming off a 2-1 series victory at Utah over the weekend and a single game win at Southern Utah on Wednesday. Inclement weather pushed a pair of Utah games to Monday, where the Rebels lost 3-1 in seven innings, but came back in the rubber match for a 7-4 victory. The Rebels dominated the Thunderbirds on Wednesday to complete the season sweept with a 16-4 victory.
In three-games against New Mexico this season, the Rebels had eight players hitting .400 or better, led by Brent Johnson. Johnson hit .667 (8-for-12) with seven RBIs and a 1.000 slugging percentage.
Courtney Hall, a possible pitcher for Sunday's game, threw a complete nine-inning game against the Lobos earlier this season, giving up only two earned runs with nine strikeouts.
Robbie Van has compiled a 3-0 record in his last four outings, including a 7-2 win over Utah last week. He has struck out 33 batters in his last 27 innings pitched.
The Rebel pitching staff leads the league with 134 strikeouts this season (MWC games).
NEW MEXICO LOBOS
New Mexico leads the league in batting average, hits, runs scored, RBIs and on-base percentage, yet are still looking to break out of last place in the conference standings. The Lobos are 1-11 in the last 12 conference games.
Matt Young has a league-best 22-game hitting streak and remains the only player to record a hit in every MWC game this season.
The Rebels now hold a 48-32 series advantage over the Lobos following a three-game sweep in Las Vegas earlier this season.
INJURY UPDATE
Nothing relevant to report.
JOHNSON DOUBLES
With a MWC leading 21 doubles (.48 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 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 4-11 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 six-game hitting streaks heading into the games at New Mexico.
SEASON OF THE BALK
Through 44 games this season, the Rebels have already been called for 25 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.
