April 3, 2006
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IN THE BATTER'S BOX
UNLV returns home following a seven-game road trip as the Rebels host visiting UC Riverside in a Tuesday night game at 6:00 p.m. (PST). The game time was moved up a half hour from the original schedule and the two teams will play again in Riverside on April 25.
LAST TIME OUT
UNLV earned a split of its four games at the Mountain West Conference Preseason Tournament, held in San Diego, Calif. The Rebels opened the tournament with a 10-3 win over BYU, as Chris Saddoris earned the victory, giving up just one unearned run over seven innings of work. In the Rebels second game of the tournament they lost to league new-comer TCU 5-2. The game was tied at one heading into the sixth before TCU scored four in that frame to grabe a 5-1 lead and go on to the win. UNLV then bounced back to beat Air Force 9-7, with Keith Smith hitting a grand slam to pace the Rebels, who at one point had a 9-4 lead before holding on late in the game. UNLV's final game in the tournament was an up-and-down affair with San Diego State, with both teams taking leads in a high scoring game that the Aztecs won 11-10. UNLV had a 4-2 lead early on but SDSU scored the next seven runs to move ahead 9-4. The Rebels tried to rally, scoring three runs in both the seventh and the eighth, but came up short in the loss.
UNLV(14-17, 2-2 Mountain West Conference)Head Coach: Buddy Gouldsmith(86-70, 3rd year; Overall, same)
The Rebels: UNLV enters Wednesday's game against BYU with a 14-17 record after the Rebels earned a split of four games at the Mountain West Conference Preseason Tournament held in San Diego, Calif. Chris Bonnell leads the Rebel regulars in batting average with a .328 clip (39-119) and his 39 hits lead the team. The junior also paces the team with 12 doubles and is second on the team with 28 RBI. Keith Smith leads the team with 29 RBI and five home runs. Chris Saddoris (4-4) leads the Rebel staff with nine starts and 44.2 innings of work from the mound. Jabe Beard has made 14 appearances out of the Rebel bullpen and has recorded four saves, both tops on the staff. Kevin Skogley paces the Rebels with 32 strikeouts.
UC RIVERSIDE(16-10, 0-0 Big West Conference)Head Coach: Doug Smith(44-33-0, 2nd year; Overall, same)
The Highlanders: UC Riverside wrapped up a nine-game homestand with a 5-3 victory ov UC Davis this past Sunday. The Highlanders are 8-2 in their last 10 games and are led offensively by Jeff Dunbar, who is hitting .377 (23-61) on the year. Four different UCR hitters have two home runs and six have 10 or more RBI on the year. Brett Bigler leads the club with 17 steals in 18 attempts. Tuesday starter Marc Rzepczynski is 0-1 on the year with a 7.20 ERA in three starts. Daniel Stange has recorde eight saves with a 2.77 ERA in 14 relief appearances out of the bullpen.
THE SERIES
UNLV trails the series with UC Riverside 2-7 (.222) and the Rebels dropped a pair of games to UCR last year 7-3 on the road and 11-3 at home.
