April 10, 2003
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UNLV PROBABLE PITCHERS
Thursday: Matt Luca RHP
Friday: Robbie Van LHP
Saturday: Jake Vose LHP
UTAH PROBABLE PITCHERS
Thursday: Clay Westmoreland RHP
Friday: Doug Mackay RHP
Saturday: Sean Overholt RHP
UNLV REBELS
UNLV (26-10, 10-2 MWC) is ranked No. 21 by Baseball America, 26th by Sports Weekly/ESPN, and No. 28 in this week's Collegiate Baseball poll. The Rebels were last ranked during the 1996 season when USA Today had them 22nd, Baseball America 23rd and Collegiate Baseball ranked them 28th.
The Rebels swept New Mexico 10-9, 7-6 and 7-6 last weekend, but dropped a 9-4 decision to UC Riverside on Tuesday.
UNLV is led offensively by sophomore Eric Nielsen and junior Brent Johnson. Nielsen has a .385 batting average with 11 doubles on the season, while Johnson is hitting .365 with 12 doubles. Both players have six home runs apiece. Junior Fernando Valenzuela is hitting .331 and has a team-high 35 RBI.
As a team, the Rebel pitching staff has a 5.24 ERA, compared to the 7.38 of their opponents. UNLV, which out-hits opponents .300 to .285, has 41 stolen bases on the season.
Offensive production is spread evenly through the team this season, with five players driving in 30+ runs and seven players hitting .300 or better.
As a team, the Rebels have 54 home runs this season from 11 different players. Ryan Ruiz and Patrick Dobson share the team lead with eight home runs apiece. Eddie Gill, with five, is catching up quickly, having homered in three of his last four games.
UTAH UTES
The Utes enter the weekend series at 16-16 overall and 4-7 in the Mountain West Conference. Utah has won five of its last six contests, including a pair of wins over Southern Utah on Tuesday.
SERIES VS. UTAH
UNLV holds a 54-26 advantage in the series. The Rebels went 5-3 last season against the Utes and won two matchups in the conference tournament.
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 this weekend against New Mexico.
HITTING STREAKS
Patrick Dobsons enter the Utah series with an eight-game hitting streak. Eddie GIll has the next longest streak at four games.
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!
A UC Riverside pitcher hit Ryan Ruiz on Tuesday, upping UNLV's season total to 72 hit batters. The total hit batsmen committed by UNLV and its opponents this season is 116.
Andrew D'Angelo has been hit a conference-high 15 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).
LUCA NAMED LOUISVILLE SLUGGER, NCBWA AND MWC PITCHER OF THE WEEK - MARCH 31
Matt Luca, from Galveston, Texas (Ball HS), was named the Louisville Slugger National Pitcher of the Week and MWC pitcher of the week on March 31. This is the first weekly honor for Luca.
Luca tossed the first-ever no-hitter in MWC play and the first since 1990 for UNLV as he tallied 11 strikeouts in a 5-0 win over San Diego State. Luca, who was also named Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week for his efforts, allowed only three Aztecs to reach base.
VOSE NAMED MWC PITCHER OF THE WEEK - MARCH 10
Junior lefthander Jake Vose was named the Mountain West Conference Pitcher of the Week on March 10. This is the first weekly honor for Vose.
Vose, from Las Vegas, struck out nine and walked one in six innings of work as the Rebels downed Memphis, 13-4. He scattered two hits in the game, and improved his record to 3-3 on the season.
JOHNSON NAMED MWC PLAYER OF THE WEEK - MARCH 3
Junior outfielder Brent Johnson was named the Mountain West Conference Player of the Week on Monday, March 3. Johnson is now a three-time award winner.
Johnson went 6-for-13 from the plate last week, while helping the Rebels to a 1-2 record against instate rival Nevada, Reno. He was 2-for-5 with a home run and a double, while driving in three runs in UNLV's 13-5 win over Nevada. He was 1-for-3 with a home run in a 14-6 loss to Nevada and closed out the series by going 3-for-4 with a homer in a 7-3 loss to the Wolf Pack.
For the week, Johnson hit .462 with three home runs and five RBI.
NIELSEN NAMED MWC PLAYER OF THE WEEK - FEBRUARY 10
Eric Nielsen was named the Mountain West Conference Player of the Week after the Rebels' three-game sweep over College of Charletson.
Nielsen, from Las Vegas, Nev. (Silverado HS), posted an .833 batting average. In two games played, he went 5-for-6 from the plate with three doubles, two RBI and a home run.
FAB 50
Joe Wickman and Robbie Van were listed in the Baseball America Top 50 College Prospects by Class.
Wickman was listed at the No. 38 Sophomore and Van was listed as the No. 45 junior.
Wickman and Van were also listed as the fourth and fifth top prospects in the Mountain West Conference. Patrick Dobson rounded out the list as the No. 10 prospect in the conference.
PICKED THIRD BY THE CONFERENCE
For the fourth straight year, San Diego State was picked to win the Mountain West Conference regular season baseball championship. In a vote of the six MWC head coaches, the Aztecs received five of six first-place votes, while New Mexico received one.
The Aztecs collected 25 points to capture the top spot in the poll. BYU earned 19 points to place second in the poll, followed by UNLV (17 points), Utah (12 points), New Mexico (11 points) and Air Force (six points).
After placing fifth in the MWC race three straight years, UNLV was picked third in this year's poll. The Rebels were 30-30 (13-17 MWC) overall last year under first-year head coach Jim Schlossnagle.
SCHLOSSNAGLE RADIO SHOW
UNLV baseball fans will have the opportunity to hear from head coach Jim Schlossnagle each Monday on the "Jim Schlossnagle Radio Show".
The half-hour radio show, featuring the Rebels' second-year head coach, will air each Monday at 6 p.m. on KSHP 1400AM. The weekly radio show will originate during the course of the regular season from Glory Days Grill at 10075 S. Eastern Avenue in Henderson.
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 Albuquerque, N.M. May 21-24, will receive the automatic bid.
CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
The 2003 Mountain West Conference Baseball Championship will be hosted by New Mexico in Albuquerque, N.M.. All six Mountain West Conference teams will compete in the double-elimination tournament May 21-24. 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 New Mexico Baseball Contact Ron Gonzales prior to the event.
TOP OF THE CONFERENCE
UNLV leads the Mountain West Conference in the following categories (April 7): TEAM Wins 26 Hit By Pitch 71 Sac Flies 19 Runners Picked Off By 10 Batters Struck out 298 Batters Struck out Looking By 97 Saves 9 Fielding Double Plays 30 Fielding Percentage .966 Stolen Bases Against 36 Caught Stealing By 20 Steal Attempts 56 INDIVIDUAL Hit By Pitch (D'Angelo) 15 Strikeouts (Ruiz) 33 Pitching Appearances (Guerra) 16 Games Finished Pitching (Braun) 13 Runners Picked Off (Van) 6 Wild Pitches (Vose) 10 Steal Attempts Against (VanKirk) 36 Stolen Bases Against 22
