April 17, 2008
UNLV Baseball Media Notes 
IN THE BATTER'S BOX: UNLV (16-19, 5-7 MWC) finishes up a five-game homestand and resumes Mountain West Conference play, hosting San Diego State (22-15, 9-3 MWC) in a three-game series that gets underway on Friday at 6:30 p.m. (PDT) at Earl E. Wilson Stadium. The Rebels and Aztecs will play another on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. and then wrap up the series on Sunday with a 1:00 p.m. start time. All three games will be carried live on 1400 KSHP AM, as well as having live video streamed over the internet at www.unlvrebels.com. UNLV is coming off a two-game sweep of visiting Texas Tech, as the Rebels won by scores of 9-8 on Tuesday and 15-8 on Wednesday, and the victories snapped a four-game skid. Xavier Scruggs hit two home runs in the win on Tuesday and then the Rebels had 16 hits in the finale on Wednesday.
THE UNLV REBELS: UNLV is being led at the plate by Xavier Scruggs, who is hitting .429 (60-140) with 11 home runs, 40 RBI and 38 runs scored ... Scruggs slugged three home runs against Maine on March 1, as he went 5-for-5 with 7 RBI ... He was recently named the Co-MWC Player of the Week, the second time this season that he has won the award (3/3 & 4/7) ... Jesse Wight is hitting .345 (38-110) and the Rebels have seven regulars hitting .308 or better ... On the mound, reliever Adam Moser is 4-4 with a 2.64 ERA and five saves in 20 appearances out of the bullpen ... Corey Hales is 4-2 with a 3.98 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 12 appearances, nine of them starts ... The Rebels opened their season with eight-straight games at home, part of a string of 12 in 14 games that was played at Earl E. Wilson Stadium to begin the year ... This is the fifth year for head coach Buddy Gouldsmith, who currently has a career record of 141-138 (.505), which is the third-most victories in Rebel history.
THE SAN DIEGO STATE AZTECS: San Diego State comes into Las Vegas with a four-game winning streak, and the Aztecs are in first place in the Mountain West Conference standings with a 9-3 league record ... SDSU beat UC Riverside, 10-7, on Tuesday, and that followed a three-game sweep of Utah over the weekend ... The strength of the team is on the mound, where the Aztecs have a team ERA of 4.31 ... Friday starter Stephen Strasburg is 4-1 with a 1.97 ERA, and he is coming off a 23-strikeout performance against Utah on April 11 ... The 23 strikeouts set the MWC record for most strikeouts in a game ... Troy Hanzawa is leading the Aztecs at the plate with a .351 (54-154) batting average that includes four doubles and four triples ... Nick Romero is the top power threat with six home runs and 39 RBI ... MLB Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn is in his sixth season as the head coach of the Aztecs, and he has an overall record of 164-177 (.481).
SERIES HISTORY: UNLV trails the all-time series with San Diego State by a 40-48 (.455) margin, although the Rebels have won eight of the last 11 meetings with the Aztecs, including sweeping a three-game series in San Diego last year.
