March 17, 2005
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IN THE BATTER'S BOX: UNLV returns home after a five-game road trip to open Mountain West Conference play against Air Force at Earl E. Wilson Stadium. The Rebels had a successful road trip, taking three of five from Pac-10 opponents California and No. 10 Arizona.
LAST TIME OUT: UNLV played two midweek games this Tuesday and Wednesday on the road against No. 10 Arizona, splitting the series. The Rebels took the first game Tuesday night 8-4, using a five-run seventh inning to break a 3-3 tie and extend their winning streak to three games. Chris Bonnell hit his first home run of the season for the Rebels in their win and Eric Brock pitched 5.2 innings to even his record at 2-2. It was the first winning streak of the season for the Rebels, who took the last two game of the Cal series before beating the Wildcats on Tuesday. Arizona prevented the Rebels from extending their winning streak to four games, beating UNLV 15-4 in Wednesday's afternoon game. Justin Tellam drove in two of UNLV's four runs.
ON DECK: UNLV hosts Loyola Marymount in a non-league game Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. (PST) before resuming MWC play with a three-game series against New Mexico on the road at Albuquerque, N.M. The first game of the series is Friday at 11:00 a.m., with Saturday's game starting at 5:00 p.m. and Sunday's game time has yet to be announced due to the NCAA Men's Tournament being played at Albuquerque at the same time.
UNLV REBELS (6-15, 0-0 MWC): UNLV completed a successful road trip against Pac-10 opponents, winning three of five games against Cal and No. 10 Arizona. The three wins came in a row, marking the first winning streak of the season for the Rebels. Slugging sophomore catcher Justin Tellam leads the Rebels with a team-high four home runs while Chris Bonnell and Ryan Bird have each hit one. Bird is tops on the club with 23 hits and a .307 batting average. Matt Fry leads UNLV with 12 RBI and he is one of three Rebels to reached double figures, with Zeke Parraz (11) and Bird (10) the other two. CJ Lang leads the Rebels with 17 runs scored and has drawn a team-high 14 walks. On the hill Matt Luca is 1-4 but has a 3.25 ERA and 23 strike outs as he has been the victim of poor run support in 2005. Kyle Tabeek has been effective out of the bullpen with a 2-0 record and two saves.
AIR FORCE: (4-13, 0-0 MWC): The Falcons enter this weekend's after having last played on March 8 against Northern Colorado, getting swept in a double header. Air Force is hitting .292 as a team, with sophomore Karl Bolt leading the offense with a .386 average, six home runs and a .532 on-base percentage. Right hander Travis Fugler is 2-3 with 11 strikeouts for the Falcons.
UNLV AGAINST AIR FORCE: UNLV has dominated the all-time series with Air Force, holding a 50-13 (.793) advantage. The Rebels won all seven games the two teams played last season, outscoring the Falcons a combined 87-35.
