April 19, 2006

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IN THE BATTER'S BOX

UNLV returns home for a three-game home series against MWC rival San Diego State beginning Friday at 6:30 p.m. (PDT) at Earl E. Wilson Stadium. Saturday's game is slated for 2:00 p.m. and Sunday's start time is 1:00 p.m. All three games will be broadcast live on KSHP 1400 AM with Jon Sandler handling the play-by-play.

UNLV REBELS(16-22, 3-7 Mountain West Conference)Head Coach: Buddy Gouldsmith(88-75, 3rd year; Overall, same)

The Rebels: UNLV enters Friday's game against San Diego State with a 16-22 record, 3-7 in the MWC after the Rebels were swept on the road by TCU. Keith Smith leads the Rebel regulars in batting average with a .339 clip (41-121) and his 36 RBI are second on the team. Chad Miller leads the team with eight home runs and Chris Bonnell's 38 RBI is tops on the squad. Chris Saddoris (5-5) leads the Rebel staff with 10 starts and 60.1 innings of work from the mound. Jabe Beard has made 16 appearances out of the Rebel bullpen and has recorded four saves, both tops for UNLV. Kevin Skogley paces the Rebels with 35 strikeouts and 10 different UNLV pitchers have recorded at least one win this season, with Saddoris leading the group with five.

SAN DIEGO STATE AZTECS(13-27, 6-4 Mountain West Conference)Head Coach: Tony Gwynn(103-123, 4th year; Overall, same)

The Aztecs: San Diego State enters the weekend series with a 13-27 overall record and is third in the league with a 6-4 MWC mark. SDSU took two of three games from Utah last weekend in San Diego. Paul Smyth leads the Aztec regulars with a .373 (56-150) batting average and he has a team-high 32 RBI. Tim O'Brien leads the squad with eight home runs and Quintin Berry has been a terror on the base paths, stealing 22 bags in 28 attempts. On the mound Justin Masterson has been the most consistent starter for SDSU with a 4-5 record and 75 strike outs in 11 starts. Adam Simon has four saves as well.

THE SERIES

UNLV trails the all-time series with San Diego State 35-46 (.432) and the Rebels dropped the first meeting with the Aztecs earlier this year 11-10. That game was part of the inaugural MWC Preseason Tournament. Last year the Rebels went 6-1 against the Aztecs including a 14-3 win in the MWC Tournament.

LAST TIME OUT

UNLV baseball was swept by TCU last weekend in Fort Worth, Texas, the first time in more than two years that the Rebels were swept in a MWC series. In the opener the Rebels fell behind early and could not come back, dropping a 7-3 game to the Horned Frogs. In the second game UNLV had the tying runners in scoring position in the ninth, but could not get them home in the 9-7 loss. The Rebels scored five runs in the final two innings to make the game close but could not come all the way back. In the closing game of the series Chad Miller hit his team-leading eighth home run but it was not enough as UNLV lost 3-2.