April 27, 2007

LAS VEGAS - UNLV baseball received a signed national letter of intent from Steve Rinaudo and he will enroll at UNLV this fall and begin playing with the Rebels in 2008, head coach Buddy Gouldsmith announced Friday.

Rinaudo is currently a sophomore at American River College in Sacramento, Calif., and he has the ability to play a variety of positions on the field while also pitching for the Rebels. He joins a group of 15 student-athletes that Gouldsmith and his staff signed in the fall.

"We are extremely excited to have Steve join an already talented class. He is a two-way player who will pitch and hit for us," Gouldsmith said. "His junior college success places him among the best junior college players in California."

Rinaudo is second on the Beavers this season with a .386 (54-140) batting average to go with 11 doubles, five triples, 29 RBI and 19 steals in 20 attempts. He has also made 12 appearances on the mound, including seven starts for ARC head coach Doug Jumelet. As a freshman Rinaudo hit .354 (56-158) with a pair of home runs and 26 RBI while also going 5-3 on the mound with a 2.74 ERA. He earned first team All-Big 7 Conference honors following his rookie season at American River College. He picked the Rebels over Cal State Fullerton and LSU.

Originally from Carmichael, Calif., he prepped at Casa Roble High School and hit .526 with seven home runs and 45 RBI as a senior. Rinaudo was named the Capital Athletic League MVP and earned first team All-Metro honors.

Gouldsmith also has close ties to the school, as he played at American River College from 1987-89 and then was an assistant coach there for five years. Former Rebel infielder Peter White (2003-04) played at ARC as well before transferring to UNLV.