May 18, 2008
UNLV Baseball MWC Tournament Media Notes 
IN THE BATTER'S BOX: UNLV (21-35, 9-15 MWC) is the sixth seed in this week's Mountain West Conference Tournament and will face third-seeded San Diego State (30-26, 16-8 MWC) on Tuesday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. (PST) at Lupton Stadium. This year's tournament is being hosted by TCU, after the previous two tournaments were held on the campus of UNLV at Earl E. Wilson Stadium. The second game of the day will match fourth-seeded BYU against fifth-seeded Utah at 5:00 p.m., while top-seeded TCU and second-seeded New Mexico have first-round byes. TCU is the two-time defending MWC Tournament champions, and the Horned Frogs earned the top seed this year by winning their third consecutive regular season title. The winner of the MWC Baseball Championship will earn an automatic bid to the 2008 NCAA Tournament. The Rebels come into the tournament after wrapping up their regular season at Air Force, losing 2-of-3 to the Falcons.
THE UNLV REBELS: UNLV is being led at the plate by Xavier Scruggs, who is hitting .389 (84-216) with 20 home runs, 65 RBI and 60 runs scored ... Scruggs hit his way to the Mountain West Conference's triple crown, becoming the first Rebel since Eric Nielsen to lead the league in home runs, batting average and RBI ... He has hit three home runs in a game twice, against Maine on March 1 and against San Diego State on April 19 ... His 20 home runs marks the first time a Rebel has hit at least 20 since Kevin Lofthus hit a school-record 26 in 1989 ... The Rebels have seven regulars hitting .301 or better and are hitting .309 as a team ... On the mound, reliever Adam Moser is 6-5 with a 3.83 ERA and six saves in 31 appearances out of the bullpen ... Corey Hales has the team's lone complete game of the year, which came in a 6-1 win against San Francisco at home on March 8 ... This is the fifth year for head coach Buddy Gouldsmith, who currently has a career record of 146-154 (.487), which is the third-most victories in Rebel history.
THE SAN DIEGO STATE AZTECS: San Diego State enters the MWC tournament having lost four in a row, including a three-game series at Cal State Fullerton to close out the Aztecs' regular season ... SDSU features the best starting pitcher in the league in Stephen Strasburg, who is 8-2 with a 1.59 ERA and 128 strikeouts in 90.1 innings ... He struck out 23 batters against Utah on April 11, setting the MWC record for most strikeouts in a game ... Troy Hanzawa is leading the Aztecs at the plate with a .382 (94-246) batting average and SDSU is hitting .294 as a team ... 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 172-188 (.478).
SERIES HISTORY: UNLV trails the all-time series with San Diego State by a 42-49 (.462) margin, although the Rebels have won 10 of the last 14 meetings with the Aztecs, including 2-of-3 this year in Las Vegas on April 18-20. After losing the first game of the series 17-1, the Rebels rebounded with victories over the Aztecs in the next two by scores of 19-18 in 10 innings and 20-16.
