May 22, 2006

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IN THE BATTER'S BOX

UNLV opens up Mountain West Conference Tournament play against New Mexico on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. (PDT) at Earl E. Wilson Stadium. The Rebels are the fourth seed and they will be trying to win their fourth-consecutive MWC Tournament title. The game will be carried live on KSHP 1400 AM with Tim Neverett handling the play-by-play. If the Rebels win they will play Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. against TCU and if they lose they will play Wednesday afternoon at 4:00 p.m.

Complete MWC First Round

Game 1 - 11 am, #3 SDSU vs. #6 UtahGame 2 - 3 pm, #2 BYU vs. #7 Air ForceGame 3 - 7 pm, #4 UNLV vs. #5 New Mexico

No. 4 UNLV REBELS(27-28, 12-10 Mountain West Conference)Head Coach: Buddy Gouldsmith(99-81, 3rd year; Overall, same)

The Rebels: UNLV enters Thursday's game against Air Force with a 27-28 record, 12-10 in the MWC after the Rebels swept Air Force last weekend. CJ Lang leads the Rebels in hits (78), runs (59), stolen bases (15) and on-base percentage (.433). Keith Smith paces the team in home runs with 13 and RBI with 66. Chris Saddoris (6-7) leads the Rebel staff with 13 starts and 75.1 innings of work from the mound. Jabe Beard has made a team-high 24 appearances out of the Rebel bullpen and has recorded four saves, tops for UNLV. Kevin Skogley leads the Rebels with 56 strikeouts and 10 different UNLV pitchers have recorded at least one win. Tuesday starter Matt Luca is 3-4 with a 6.67 ERA.

No. 5 NEW MEXICO LOBOS(28-27, 10-12 Mountain West Conference)Head Coach: Rich Alday(485-481-3,17th year; Overall, 981-701-3, 31st year)

The Lobos: New Mexico comes into this weekend's series having lost 14 of its last 15 games, including a three-game sweep by TCU this past weekend. The Lobos bring one of the most potent offenses in the league into Earl E. Wilson Stadium, as seven UNM regulars are hitting above .300 and the team leads the league in most offensive categories. Chris Carlson leads UNM with 19 home runs and 68 RBI. Ian Hollick paces the team with a .383 batting average and Matt Foote leads the team with 24 stolen bases. Danny Ray Herrera leads the UNM pitching staff, posting a 9-0 record with a 2.30 ERA in 16 starts. He has struck out 97 in 121.1 innings of work.

THE SERIES

UNLV leads the all-time series with New Mexico 66-40 (.622) after the Rebels swept three games from the Lobos at home this year on May 12-14. The two teams have played three times in MWC Tournament history with UNLV winning in 2004 (15-9) and 2003 (12-5) and UNM winning in 2001 (5-2).

LAST TIME OUT

UNLV swept Air Force this past weekend to close its regular season on an eight-game winning streak. The Rebels won by scores of 18-6, 18-3 and 18-4. In the opening game of the series Keith Smith hit two home runs and drove in a career-high eight runs. Efren Navarro Jr. closed the series by hitting three home runs in the game, including two in one inning.