May 8, 2003
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UNLV PROBABLE PITCHERS
Friday: Robbie Van LHP
Saturday: Matt Luca RHP
Sunday: Jake Vose LHP
NEW MEXICO PROBABLE PITCHERS
Friday: Jamie Vermilyea RHP
Saturday: Kris Gross RHP
Sunday: Chad Coltrinari RHP
UNLV REBELS
UNLV (37-13, 20-4 MWC) moved to No. 16 in the latest Baseball America poll after a 2-1 series victory at San Diego State. The Rebels were last ranked during the 1996 season. UNLV's highest ranking came during the 1981 season when they were ranked No. 12 by Collegiate Baseball Magazine.
UNLV has won 15 of its last 17 conference games and currently holds a four-game lead in the conference standings. The Rebels need just one win over New Mexico to clinch at least a share of the regular season championship.
The Rebels will set a MWC record for most conference wins if they win half of their remaining six games. New Mexico won 22 conference games in 2000.
Brent Johnson maintained his position at the top of the offensive production list. He is now hitting .362 (76-for-210) with six home runs and 16 doubles. Fernando Valenzuela leads the team with 55 RBI and is hitting .343 (62-for-181).
Offensive production is spread evenly through the team this season, with seven players driving in 30+ runs and seven players hitting .300 or better. UNLV has outscored its opponents 431-308 this season.
As a team, the Rebels have 71 home runs from 12 different players. Patrick Dobson and Fernando Valenzuela share the team lead with 10.
UNLV has more than doubled the home run production of its opponents, hitting 71 and giving up only 34.
NEW MEXICO LOBOS
The Lobos are 33-19 overall and in second place in the MWC at 16-8. UNM has won six straight conference games. The Lobos trail UNLV by four games with six games left in the regular season.
UNM junior right-hander James Vermilyea (7-1, 3.65) will start Friday's opener and try to extend his seven-game winning streak. His only loss was in the season opener at Texas Tech on Jan. 31. Vermilyea leads the MWC in strikeouts (92) and innings (103.2). Senior 1B Chris Alexander leads the league in HRs (23) and RBI (85).
Friday's game will be played at Isotopes Park, Albuquerque's rebuilt baseball stadium and home to the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes. The MWC Tournament will also be played at Isotopes Park May 21-24
SERIES VS. NEW MEXICO
New Mexico holds a 50-36 advantage over UNLV in the overall series. The Rebels swept a three-game series with the Lobos in Las Vegas earlier this season.
UNLV has won the last five meetings and eight of the last nine, dropping only one game in Albuquerque last season.
INJURY UPDATE
None.
HITTING STREAKS
Brent Johnson and Eddie Gill share the longest active hitting steak on the team at five games each.
PERFECTION
Fernando Valenzuela has yet to make an error at first base this season. In 385 chances and 31 double plays, he continues to sport a 1.000 fielding percentage. He has 279 more chances than any other errorless player in the conference. His 385 chances are second in the conference to Chris Alexander of New Mexico who has 506 this season.
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.
Junior Patrick Dobson is the son of actor Kevin Dobson. Kevin had a five-year run on Kojak, playing Telly Savalas' assistant Detective Bobby Crocker.
In 1982, Dobson launched his longest series-TV stint in the role of attorney M. Patrick McKenzie on the prime-time serial Knots Landing.
NEW CAREER DOUBLES LEADER
Junior third baseman Brent Johnson hit a pair of doubles against San Diego State on Sunday, giving him 16 on the season and 66 in his three-year career. His total ties the school record for career doubles set by Bill Max, who played from 1978-81.
REBEL BASEBALL, IT'S A HIT!
San Diego State pitchers hit four Rebels over the weekend, upping UNLV's season total to 95 hit batters. The total hit batsmen committed by UNLV and its opponents this season is 156.
D'Angelo has been hit a conference-high 18 times this season and now shares the single season school record with John Cruz (2000).
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.
THE RPI RANKINGS
UNLV leads the MWC at No. 43 in the Boyd's World RPI rankings as of May 4, followed by New Mexico at No. 62. As a conference, the MWC is ranked 14th.
Overall this season, the Mountain West has posted a .500 or better record vs. eight of the top 13 conferences in the RPI rankings (the MWC has not played the SEC, ACC or Atlantic Sun), including a 10-10 mark vs. the Big West, a 4-3 slate vs. Conference USA and a 4-2 record vs. the Sun Belt
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).
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.
MWC TOURNAMENT MAKES TELEVISION DEBUT
The Mountain West Conference and College Sports Television (www.cstv.com), the first 24-hour college sports network, have reached an agreement to televise live selected games of the 2003 MWC Baseball Championship, to be held May 21-24 at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque, N.M.
The television venture for Mountain West baseball is the first in the history of the conference and the first with CSTV. Two second-round conference tournament games will be televised live on CSTV on Thursday, May 22 at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. (MST). A recap of that day's 11 a.m. (MST) game, with highlights, will air on CSTV from 2:30-3 p.m. (MST). CSTV is currently available to a national audience via DirecTV on channel 610.
"We are pleased to have this opportunity to showcase the quality of Mountain West Conference baseball to a national audience," said Craig Thompson, MWC Commissioner. "This is also a significant first step in our developing relationship with CSTV."
The Mountain West Conference is in the midst of one of its most successful baseball seasons. MWC leader UNLV is ranked 18th in the latest Baseball America poll, and overall, the league has a 75-64 non-conference record, including victories over seven ranked teams.
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.
