May 6, 2009
UNLV at BYU Media Notes 
IN THE BATTER'S BOX
UNLV (25-24, 9-9 Mountain West) hits the road for their regular season Mountain West Conference series, traveling to play BYU (24-21, 11-8 Mountain West) in a three-game set that gets underway Thursday at 6:00 p.m. (PT) at Larry H. Miller Field. The Rebels will play the Cougars again on Friday at 6:00 p.m. before closing out the series Saturday at 12:00 p.m., and all three games will be televised on BYUTV. Fans in Las Vegas can watch BYU on Cox Cable (352), DirecTV (374) and on Dish Network (9403). This is an important series for both clubs, as the Rebels sit fifth and the Cougars are fourth in the league standings with just two weekends left before the conference tournament. While the Rebels have struggled on the road this season, they are 4-2 in their last six games after opening the year 0-12 in games outside of Las Vegas, winning series at Air Force and New Mexico. UNLV suffered a tough loss on Tuesday at home, losing to UC Riverside by a score of 22-5, and the runs were the most the Rebels have given up to an opponent this season. Fans can also follow every pitch of Tuesday's game between the Rebels and Highlanders via gametracker by going to www.unlvrebels.com.
REBELS AT A GLANCE
UNLV is now 25-24 overall and 9-9 in the MWC after losing to UC Riverside, 22-5, at home on Tuesday night ... The Rebels have got it going on the road recently, winning back-to-back road games for the second time this season and second time in as many weekends, taking two-of-three at Air Force and New Mexico the last two weekends ... Senior outfielder J.J. Sferra saw his 28-game hitting streak come to and end on April 22, as he went 0-for-5 against the Red Raiders ... The streak is the third longest in school history and overall Sferra has a .399 (77-193) batting average ... Ryan Thornton has hit a team-high eight home runs and driven in a team-leading 37 runs ... Freshman pitcher Tanner Peters is leading the Rebels on the mound, posting a strong rookie season with a 5-4 record to go with a 3.84 ERA and 57 strikeouts in 11 starts ... The freshman threw the school's fifth one-hit complete game on April 17 in a 2-0 win over Northern Colorado ... UNLV head coach Buddy Gouldsmith has a career record of 172-180 (.483) and is in his sixth season ... The 172 wins are the second most in school history ... The Rebels opened the 2009 season by playing their first 14 games at Earl E. Wilson Stadium, which is tied for the third-longest such stretch in the nation.
COUGARS AT A GLANCE
BYU brings a 24-21 overall mark and an 11-8 Mountain West mark into the series against UNLV ... BYU has lost five in a row, but the past four have come against No. 15 TCU and No. 10 Kansas State, and the Wildcats beat the Cougars twice earlier this week in Manhattan, Kan. ... The Cougars are hitting .315 as a team with eight regulars in the lineup hitting .307 or better ... The top hitter on the club is Kent Walton and he has a .416 (67-161) average with nine home runs and 36 RBI ... BYU has posted a team ERA of 5.48 and Friday starter Nathan Bunch is 3-4 with a 5.86 ERA to go along with 29 strikeouts in 50.2 innings of work ... BYU closer Jordan Muir has nine saves and a 2.64 ERA in 18 appearances, along with an 0-2 overall record and 32 strikeouts ... BYU is coached by Vance Law, who is 311-260-2 in his 10th season with the Cougars.
