Feb. 12, 2008

LAS VEGAS - UNLV baseball was picked to finish fifth in the Mountain West Conference in 2008 as the league released is preseason poll on Tuesday, as voted on by the seven MWC head coaches and a select media panel.

Junior catcher Michael Brenly was the lone Rebel voted to the preseason All-MWC squad, as the returning starting catcher played in 54 games in 2007, making 47 starts and hitting .278 with three home runs and 33 RBI.

The TCU Horned Frogs have been selected to win their third straight regular season Mountain West Conference baseball championship in 2008, collecting six of a possible nine first-place votes and 60 points, while BYU (three first-place votes) received 52 points to finish second in the poll.

San Diego State tallied 42 points for a third-place standing in the poll, while New Mexico (40 points) was fourth, UNLV (26 points) fifth, Utah (23 points) sixth and Air Force (nine points) seventh. BYU placed four players on the preseason all-MWC team, followed by San Diego State and TCU with three apiece, New Mexico with two, and UNLV and Utah with one player each.

TCU returns five starters from last year's NCAA Tournament squad, including 2007 All-MWC selections Clint Arnold (Sr., OF), Bryan Kervin (Sr., SS) and Matt Vern (Jr., 1B). The Horned Frogs were 48-14 overall last season (20-3 MWC) and captured their second consecutive MWC postseason tournament title.

BYU returns six starters led by 2007 Freshman All-American and MWC Co-Freshman of the Year Steve Parker (So., 3B). The Cougars were 37-20 last season (17-7 MWC), finishing second in the regular-season standings. San Diego State will be led by freshman All-American and MWC Co-Freshman of the Year Stephen Strasburg (So., RHP), and 2007 all-league picks Nick Romero (Jr., 3B), Troy Hanzawa (Sr., SS) and Brandon Glover (Sr., OF).

New Mexico returns seven starters from last year's squad that finished 12-12 in conference play (28-30 overall), including 2007 all-conference member and preseason all-conference selection Bobby LaFromboise (Sr., LHP) and preseason all-conference honoree Matt Hibbitts (Sr., 2B). UNLV returns four starters (13 letterwinners overall), including preseason all-conference member Michael Brenly (Jr., C). Utah has seven letterwinners back, including 2007 all-MWC pick Corey Shimada (So., OF), from last year's squad that finished tied for third in the MWC (12-12, 24-31 overall). Air Force has seven starters back, including 2007 Ping! Baseball All-Freshman Team member K.J. Randhawa (So., INF).

The Rebels begin their fifth season under head coach Buddy Gouldsmith by hosting Central Michigan in a three-game series that gets underway on Feb. 22 at 6:30 p.m. (PT) at Earl E. Wilson Stadium. Fan can purchase season and single-game tickets by calling 739-FANS or by logging onto www.unlvrebels.com.

2008 MWC PRESEASON POLL (selected by MWC head coaches and select media)

Rk.    Team (1st place votes)    Points1.     TCU (6)                   602.     BYU (3)                   523.     San Diego State           424.     New Mexico                405.     UNLV                      266.     Utah                      237.     Air Force                 9

2008 MWC PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM(selected by MWC head coaches and select media)

Pos.       Name, Class                InstitutionC          Michael Brenly, Jr.        UNLV1B         Kasey Ko, Jr.              BYU           Matt Vern, Jr.             TCU2B         Sean McNaughton, So.       BYU           Matt Hibbitts, Sr.         New Mexico3B         Steve Parker, So.          BYUSS         Bryan Kervin, Sr.          TCUOF         Kent Walton, Jr.           BYUOF         Brandon Glover, Sr.        San Diego StateOF         Clint Arnold, Sr.          TCUOF         Corey Shimada, So.         UtahP          Stephen Strasburg, So.     San Diego StateP          Bobby LaFromboise, Sr.     New MexicoUT/DH      Nick Romero, Jr.           San Diego State