March 9, 2006
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IN THE BATTER'S BOX UNLV wraps ups a streak of 12-straight home games with a three-game series against visiting California at Earl E. Wilson Stadium. The first game of the series is scheduled for Friday night at 6:30 p.m. (PST) at Earl E. Wilson Stadium. Saturday's game is at 2:00 p.m. and the third game of the series is 1:00 p.m. UNLV is currently 6-3 at home.
UNLV(7-10, 0-0 Mountain West Conference)Head Coach: Buddy Gouldsmith(79-63, 3rd year; Overall, same)
The Rebels: UNLV enters Friday's game against Cal with a 7-10 record after it split two games gainst Texas Tech. Zach Borba leads the Rebel regulars in batting average with a .439 clip (25-57) and his 25 hits are tops on the team. Chris Bonnell paces the team with 18 RBI and he is tied for the team lead in home runs with two. Chris Saddoris (2-2) has leads the Rebel staff with five starts and 26.2 innings of work from the mound. Jabe Beard has made nine appearances out of the Rebel bullpen to lead the staff while Kevin Skogley and Smith lead the team in strikeouts with 17 each.
CALIFORNIA(8-6, 0-0 Pac-10 Conference)Head Coach: David Esquer(183-167, 7th year; Overall, same)
The Golden Bears: California comes into the weekend having won seven of its last nine games, including splitting a pair of games against No. 11 Stanford. Brett Munster leads the Golden Bears with a .375 average and he has two home runs as well. Brennan Boesch Jr. and Josh Satin each have hit four home runs and driven in 10 runs to lead Cal. The Golden Bears are led on the mound by starters Brandon Morrow and Tyson Ross. Morrow was a preseason All-America selection and he is currently 2-0 with a 1.46 ERA and 29 strikeouts in four starts. Ross has bee equally as effective, sporting a 3-1 record with a 2.84 ERA and 23 strikeouts.
THE SERIES UNLV leads the series with Cal 9-6 after the Rebels took two-of-three games from the Golden Bears last year in Berkeley, Calif. The last time Cal was in Las Vegas, the Rebels won two games in a three game set in 2003.
LAST TIME OUT UNLV split a rare Monday-Tuesday series with visiting Texas Tech as the Rebels lost the opener 9-0 but rebounded to win 16-11 the next day. Monday's shutout was the first time in 30 games that the Rebels were kept off the scoreboard at home, with the last shutout at Earl E. Wilson Stadium coming last season on Feb. 27 against Cal State Fullerton, 8-0. Efren Navarro Jr. and CJ Lang each finished with two hits on the night to account for the Rebel offense with Navarro Jr. hitting a double. In the second game Tuesday UNLV took advantage of gusty winds blowing straight out of Earl E. Wilson Stadium, scoring 11 runs in the fourth inning to come back and beat visiting Texas Tech 16-11. Mike Cruz and Chris Bonnell each hit three-run home runs and Blake Gailen added a two-run shot in the frame, all of which were wind-aided over the left-field wall that helped the Rebels dig out of an 8-4 deficit. By the time the inning was over the Rebels used nine hits and one error to score the 11 runs.
