March 16, 2006
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IN THE BATTER'S BOX UNLV opens up a three-game series against the Citadel on Friday night at Earl E. Wilson Stadium, with the first pitch set for 6:30 p.m. (PST). The series will continue into the weekend, with games on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. and Sunday at 1:00 p.m. This will mark the end of a long stretch at home for the Rebels, who have played 12 of their last 13 games at home and are 8-4 over that time at Earl E. Wilson Stadium.
UNLV(9-12, 0-0 Mountain West Conference)Head Coach: Buddy Gouldsmith(81-65, 3rd year; Overall, same)
The Rebels: UNLV enters Friday's game against The Citadel with a 9-12 record after it split dropped a Tuesday night game this week at UCLA. Zach Borba leads the Rebel regulars in batting average with a .370 clip (27-73) and his 27 hits are tops on the team. Chris Bonnell paces the team with 20 RBI and he is tied for the team lead in home runs with two. Chris Saddoris (2-3) leads the Rebel staff with six starts and 32.2 innings of work from the mound. Jabe Beard has made 11 appearances out of the Rebel bullpen and has recorded three saves, both tops on the staff. Kevin Skogley and Saddoris each have 20 strike outs to lead the Rebels.
THE CITADEL(12-6, 0-0 Southern Conference)Head Coach: Fred Jordan(502-352, 15th year; Overall, same)
The Bulldogs: The Citadel comes into the weekend series with having won two of three against against Butler this past weekend and a Tuesday game against Charleston Southern 8-5. All four wins came at home for the Bulldogs, who have only played two games away from Charleston, S.C., all year. Both those games were losses. Chris Swauger leads the Bulldogs offensively, hitting .414 (29-70) with two home runs and 17 RBI. Five other Citadel regulars are hitting over .300. Ryan Owens has made the most starts on the staff, going 1-1 in five starts. Link Saunders has been lights out from the bullpen, with seven saves and a 0.47 ERA in 12 appearances.
THE SERIES This will be the first time that UNLV has ever played The Citadel.
LAST TIME OUT It was a rough outing for Matt Luca in his first trip to the mound for the Rebels as UNLV baseball lost 16-2 against UCLA on Tuesday night at Jackie Robinson Stadium. The senior right-hander was making his first start of the year and recorded just one out, giving up six runs on two hits while walking two. UNLV dropped to 9-12 on the year and Luca (0-1) took the loss while UCLA improved to 12-11 with Brian Schroeder (3-1) picking up the win. The Bruins used 15 hits to plate their 16 runs while the Rebels were held to just two runs on six hits. The Bruins scored the first 12 runs of the game, getting six in the first, three in the second one in the third and two in the fourth for a 12-0 lead. UNLV had already come back from a 10-run deficit against Texas this season, but there would be no such rally on Tuesday. UNLV's pair of runs came in the top of the fifth inning, when Keith Smith singled with the bases loaded, bringing home CJ Lang and Zach Borba and making the game 12-2. UNLV did not record an extra-base hit on the night, with all of the Rebels hits being singles.
