April 21, 2008
UNLV Baseball Game Notes 
IN THE BATTER'S BOX: UNLV (18-20, 7-8 MWC) begins its longest road trip of the year by traveling to play UCLA (19-16, 4-5 Pac-10) at Jackie Robinson Stadium on Tuesday night at 6:00 p.m. (PDT). It is the first of nine-straight away from Las Vegas that will span two weeks. The Rebels are coming off a wild, three-game series this past weekend against San Diego State at Earl E. Wilson Stadium that featured strong winds and plenty of offense. After dropping Friday's opener 17-1, UNLV won the next two, 19-18 in 10 innings on Saturday, and then 20-16 on Sunday for the series win. UNLV collected a season-high 23 runs in the game on Saturday and the 20 runs scored on Sunday were the second most this season for the Rebels. In the three games the two teams combined for 91 runs and 111 hits, including 18 home runs and 21 doubles, with both team's ERAs above 11.14.
THE UNLV REBELS: UNLV is being led at the plate by Xavier Scruggs, who is hitting .430 (65-151) with 14 home runs, 49 RBI and 47 runs scored ... For the second time this season Scruggs slugged three home runs in a game, drilling a trio against San Diego State on April 19, as he went 3-for-6 with 8 RBI ... He first did it 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 on April 7, the second time this season that he has won the award (3/3 & 4/7) ... Jesse Wight is hitting .360 (45-125) and the Rebels have eight regulars hitting .303 or better ... On the mound, reliever Adam Moser is 5-4 with a 3.89 ERA and five saves in 22 appearances out of the bullpen ... Corey Hales is 4-2 with a 5.01 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 13 appearances, 10 of them starts ... This is the fifth year for head coach Buddy Gouldsmith, who currently has a career record of 143-139 (.507), which is the third-most victories in Rebel history.
THE UCLA BRUINS: UCLA enters Tuesday's game following an 8-2 win at home against Stanford on Sunday ... That snapped a three-game losing streak ... The Bruins are being paced at the plate by Alden Carrithers, who is hitting .390 (55-141) with four home runs and 34 RBI ... Overall the Bruins have four regulars hitting .304 or higher and they are hitting .281 as a team ... On the mound Tuesday starter Garett Claypool is 1-1 with a 4.22 ERA in three starts and 11 total appearances ... He lost his last decision, a 4-0 loss against Cal State Fullerton on April 15 ... UCLA opened the year ranked No. 1 by Baseball America ... UCLA head coach John Savage is in his fourth year and he currently has a record of 100-110 (.476) and he is in his seventh season overall as a collegiate head coach with a career record of 188-194-1 (.492).
SERIES HISTORY: UNLV trails the all-time series with UCLA by a 12-24 (.333) margin. The Rebels and Bruins last met on the diamond in 2006, with the Bruins earning a 16-2 win over the Rebels at Jackie Robinson Stadium. Keith Smith's two-run single with the bases loaded in the fifth accounted for the UNLV's runs.
