April 8, 2010
UNLV at Utah Game Notes
LEADING OFF
After playing the majority of its games at home UNLV (17-13, 2-4 Mountain West) embarks on a 10-game road trip that gets underway Friday night with a Mountain West Conference series against Utah in Salt Lake City. Game one gets underway at 5:00 p.m. (PT) at Spring Mobile Stadium, while game times for Saturday and Sunday will be 12:00 p.m., and fans can listen to live audio and follow a Gametracker feed of all three games at www.UNLVRebels.com. This will be just the second three-game series on the road for the Rebels but the second conference series away from home, as they opened up league play two weeks ago at BYU, going 1-2 in that set. UNLV is coming off a split of a two-game non-conference series with Texas Tech at Earl E. Wilson Stadium earlier this week, as the Rebels won game one 10-8 but lost 11-9 on Tuesday afternoon. In fact, three of the first four league series for UNLV will be played on the road, as a trip to TCU will close out the long road trip, but the Rebels will then end the year with three of their last four conference series coming at Wilson Stadium.
REBELS AT A GLANCE
Runs have not been hard to come by for the Rebels, as they have scored a total of 259 through 30 games, including 18 on Feb. 21 against Sacramento State and 22 against Temple on Feb. 26 ... That is an average of 8.6 runs per game ... UNLV has played in three extra-inning games this season, starting with its season opener that went 11 innings, the first opener to go extras since the 2004 season opener, when UNLV lost at Cal State Fullerton, 9-8, in 11 innings on Feb. 6, 2004 .. UNLV is hitting .321 as a team, with 25 home runs, 67 doubles and 224 RBI ... Brandon Bayardi leads the UNLV regulars with a .386 (49-127) average, and the freshman has hit 13 doubles and driven in 29 runs ... Although his 17-game hitting streak came to an end on March 26, UNLV senior Drew Beuerlein is hitting .379 (47-124) with six home runs with a team-high 36 RBI ... Freshman third baseman R.J. Arnold has also slugged six home runs ... Sunday starter Matt Hutchison is 3-1 with a 3.15 ERA and also has four saves in 13 total appearances, striking out 34 and walking seven in 34.1 innings of work ... Hutchison, who has made three consecutive starts, actually opened the season as the team's closer ... UNLV is in its seventh season under head coach Buddy Gouldsmith, who has a career record of 190-201 (.486), and his 190 victories are the second most in school history.
UTES AT A GLANCE
Utah comes into the series on a four-game winning streak, including a three-game sweep of Air Force last weekend, and the Utes are currently in first place in the Mountain West Conference standings ... Overall the Utes have won seven of their last eight games ... Utah is hitting .308 as a team and leading the offense is C.J. Cron, who is hitting .438 (42-96) with nine home runs, six doubles and 38 RBI ... Nik Gumeson has slugged six home runs and driven in 17... Friday starter Jordan Whatcott is 4-3 with a 3.48 ERA ... Utah is in its seventh season under coach Bill Kinneberg, and he has a record of 171-186 (.474) and a career record of 416-369 in his 13th season as a collegiate head coach.
