March 31, 2003

UNLV REBELS

Following a 2-1 series victory over San Diego State this weekend, the UNLV baseball team makes its first appearance in the Baseball America Top 25 list at the No. 24 spot.

It is the first appearance on the poll for the Rebels in 2003. No. 21 Florida, No. 23 Southern Mississippi and No. 25 Oklahoma State also entered the rankings for the first time this season.

UNLV was last ranked during the 1996 season when USA Today had them 22nd, Baseball America 23rd and Collegiate Baseball ranked them 28th.

UNLV freshman RHP Matt Luca threw a nine-inning no-hitter in a 5-0 victory over San Diego State on Friday night. Luca struck out a season-high 11 batters. He allowed only three men to reach base, walking two with one man reaching on an error. It is the first UNLV no-hitter since 1990 and the third in school history. With the win, Luca improved to 2-0 on the season and lowered his ERA to 3.58.

Eric Nielsen continues to lead the team with a .402 (37-for-92) average.

Offensive production is spread evenly through the team this season, with six players driving in 20+ runs and seven players hitting .300 or better.

As a team, the Rebels have 48 home runs this season from 11 different players. Ryan Ruiz and Robert VanKirk share the team lead with seven home runs apiece.

SOUTHERN UTAH THUNDERBIRDS

The Thunderbirds have dropped six staight games, two to BYU and four to Cal-Poly. The game against UNLV will close out an 11-game home stand.

Southern Utah enters the game with a 7-10 record, 6-8 at home. The Thunderbirds have four players hitting .300 or better, led by Ty Doezie's .390 average.

SERIES VS. SOUTHERN UTAH

UNLV holds a 78-14 advantage in the series. The Rebels took all four meeting last year and have not lost to the Thunderbirds since Feb. 5, 2000 in Las Vegas.

INJURY UPDATE

David Seccombe left the March 8 game against Memphis in the second inning with a strain in his throwing elbow and did not play the following weekend against Air Force. He is diagnosed with tendonitis and could return as early as this coming weekend against New Mexico.

HITTING STREAKS

Eric Neilsen has a five-game hitting-streak heading into the weekend series. Patrick Dobson, Brent Johnson, Fernando Valenzuela and Andrew D'Angelo have three-game hitting streaks.

YES, HE IS

Rebel junior Fernando Valenzuela is the son of former major league pitcher Fernando Valenzuela.

Fernando Valenzuela Sr. began his professional career on September 15, 1980, with the Los Angeles Dodgers and played 17 years for six different teams.

REBEL BASEBALL, IT'S A HIT!

San Diego State pitchers hit three Rebel batters over the weekend, upping UNLV's season total to 64 hit batters. The total hit batsmen committed by UNLV and its opponents this season is 102.

Andrew D'Angelo has been hit a conference-high 14 times this season.

Villanova pitcher James Russell set an NCAA record for hit batsmen in an inning during the Feb. 22 game. He hit five batters in 0.1 innings of work.

EARLY RECOGNITION

Junior RHP Robbie Van was named the No. 18 prospect in the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League by Baseball America. League managers and professional scouts were polled for the list, which included the top 30 players from the summer circuit.

Baseball America began rating the best Cape Cod League prospects in 1990.

Excerpt From Baseball America on Robbie Van: As a lefthanded reliever, Van could be on an express route to the majors. He opened the summer on Yarmouth-Dennis as a fill-in player, and when the Red Sox ran out of roster spots he joined Orleans. Van throws a low-90s fastball and had the consensus best slider on the Cape.

BASEBALL AMERICA

Baseball America predicted UNLV will finish second in the Mountain West Conference this season, behind first place San Diego State.

Other preseason conference honors included Ryan Ruiz, Brent Johnson and Robbie Van on the preseason all-conference list. Van was also picked as the preseason MWC Pitcher of the Year.

Four of the five "top newcomer" picks belonged to the Rebels (Ryan Braun, Stephen Ghutzman, Fernando Valenzuela and Patrick Dobson).