May 21, 2002
UNLV PROBABLE PITCHERS
Wednesday: Robbie Van LHP (7-5, 4.74 ERA)
Thursday: Courtney Hall RHP (4-5, 5.65 ERA)
Friday: TBD
UNLV REBELS
UNLV (28-28, 13-17 MWC) has already surpassed the win total from the 2001 season (23-33) and will likely finish with the best record since 1998 when the Rebels went 31-24.
The Rebels will take on the Utes of Utah in the first game of the MWC Championships. The teams split the regular season at three games apiece, with freshman Joe Wickman hitting .438 (7-for-16) in those six games. He finished the regular season with a .451 batting average, .490 in conference play.
Sophomore lefthander Robbie Van is 6-0 with a 2.32 ERA in his last six MWC contests with one of those victories coming against Utah.
After splitting the regular season 3-3, the Rebels now hold a 52-26 advantage in the overall series. The Utes and Rebels have never met in conference tournament play.
UTAH UTES
The Utes finished the regular season with a 2-1 series win over Air Force and travel to the conference tournament as the No. 2 seed.
Third baseman Mike Westfall led the Utes in conference play with a .393 (46-for-117) batting average.
Mitch Maio has been one of the most dominant pitcher in the conference this season. He finished the regular season with a 9-1 record and is 2-0 against the Rebels.
Utah's No. 2, 3 and 4 hitters, Donnie Saba, Nate Weese and Adam Castleton, have combined for seven home runs and 20 RBIs in the last five games.
WICKMAN'S RUN AT .400
Joe Wickman is hitting a team-high .451 (55-for-122) on the season. He will be the first to finish the season over .400 since Tony DeMarco (.422) in 1998 and only the second since Bill Max (.443) in 1981.
The highest single season batting average belongs to Dave Denton, who hit .455 in 1976.
JOHNSON DOUBLES
With a MWC-leading 28 doubles, Brent Johnson has tied the UNLV record for doubles in a season. He now shares the record with Bill Max, who hit a nation-leading 28 doubles in 1981.
Johnson has at least two tournament games to call the record his own.
INJURY UPDATE
None
HITTING STREAKS
Freshman Joe Wickman takes an 18-game hitting streaks into the Mountain West Conference Tournament. This streak is also the longest of the season.
SEASON OF THE BALK
Through 53 games this season, the Rebels have been called for 27 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 41 balks on the season, 24 of which came at Wilson Stadium.
SHITANISHI'S PERFECT GAME
Garett Shitanishi was a perfect 6-for-6 at BYU on May 2, tying the UNLV record for most hits in a single game. He shares the record with four other Rebels (Ed Crow, Gus Kennedy, Stacy Kleiner and Adam Manely).
A single up the middle in his final at-bat against New Mexico on the previous Sunday gave him seven consecutive hits. The school record, held by six former Rebels, is eight.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
The Rebels played 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 were 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.
VAN POTW - May 13
UNLV sophomore lefthander Robbie Van was named MWC Pitcher of the Week on May 13.
Van tossed his first complete game of the year in the Rebels 13-1 victory over Air Force. Van allowed one run and posted a season-high 11 strikeouts. Van has a 6-5 record and a team-high 78 strikeouts this year.
SHITANISHI POTW - May 6
UNLV junior second baseman Garett Shitanishi and Air Force junior shortstop Nelson Prouty were named Co-Mountain West Conference Player of the Week on May 6. Nelson and Shitanishi are first-time award winners this season.
Shitanishi, of Reedley, Calif. (Reedley HS), tied a conference record with a 6-for-6 performance in a 19-6 win over BYU in game one of the series last week. He also knocked in two RBI and scored three times. Shitanishi was 1-for-4 in a game two loss to the Cougars, 7-5. He closed out the series by going 2-for-5 with one RBI in an 8-6 loss.
Prouty, from Starkville, Miss. (Starkville Academy), went 6-for-8 (.750) last week, while helping the Falcons to a sweep over first-place San Diego State.
TRUJILLO POTW - April 29
UNLV first baseman/DH David Trujillo has earned Mountain West Conference Player of the Week honors for his efforts over the week against Southern Utah and New Mexico.
Trujillo, from Albuquerque, N.M. (Lamar CC), went 9-for-16 (.562) last week, while helping the Rebels to a 3-1 record. In Wednesday's 16-4 win over Southern Utah, Trujillo belted two home runs in four at bats. In an 11-7 loss at New Mexico Friday, Trujillo knocked in five of the Rebels' seven runs as he homered and doubled in the game. Trujillo posted his second multiple-home run game of the week in game two vs. the Lobos as he went 4-for-6 from the plate with three RBI in a 23-13 win. Trujillo was also 1-for-3 with a double and two runs scored in an 11-4 game three victory vs. New Mexico. The first baseman committed just one error in 34 chances last week.
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.
GRAND SLAM CLUB
Head Coach Jim Schlossnagle invites UNLV baseball fans to become a part of the Grand Slam Club.
Schlossnagle formed the Grand Slam Club to increase interest in and generate financial support for the Rebel baseball program.
The Grand Slam Club will also provide long-time UNLV baseball supporters with the opportunity to receive extra benefits and get closer to the action.
Members will receive exciting and useful benefits that, depending on the level of contribution, may include exclusive Grand Slam Club merchandise, season tickets, opportunities to travel with the team and access to members-only team functions.
Interested fans and supporters can contact the baseball office directly at 702-895-3499 or access the Grand Slam Club brochure on the baseball page of www.unlvrebels.com.
"I am extremely excited about forming the Grand Slam Club," Schlossnagle said. "This organization will now provide an avenue by which our fans and supporters can have a 'hands-on' part in our program, and it will provide a direction for their financial support. All contributions to the Grand Slam Club go directly and solely to the baseball program.
"It is essential that, especially, the local business community and UNLV alumni and fans be supportive of the baseball program in order for us to achieve success at the very highest level. This club will create our "inner circle" of baseball supporters, who I hope to get to know and work with very closely."
UNLV invites all fans and supporters to become charter members of the Grand Slam Club and to be a part of an exciting new era of Rebel baseball.
