March 13, 2014
UNLV vs. San Jose State 
LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - UNLV baseball (11-4, 5-1 Mountain West) resumes Mountain West with a three-game series at San José State beginning on Friday. The Rebels are coming off of a midweek 4-3 victory over West Virginia at Earl E. Wilson Stadium and a series win at New Mexico last weekend. The Spartans have lost four of their last five games dating back to March 6. They hosted the Jack Gifford Memorial Tournament and lost 5-1 to Pacific on Thursday, 7-0 to Washington on Friday and 5-2 to UC Davis on Saturday. SJSU bounced back to collect a 4-3 win over UC Davis on Sunday, but fell in midweek action to the Aggies 9-5 in Davis, Calif. Fans in Las Vegas can watch the UNLV and San José State on UNLVRebels.com thanks to the Mountain West Network. The Rebels and Spartans will play Friday at 6:00 p.m. PT and on Saturday and Sunday at 1:00 p.m. PT.
SCOUTING THE REBELSUNLV baseball (11-4, 5-1 Mountain West) resumes Mountain West play by traveling to San Jose, Calif. to face the San José State Spartans (5-13, 2-4 MW). The Rebels are coming off of a midweek 4-3 victory over West Virginia on Tuesday and took two-of-three from New Mexico in Albuquerque last weekend. The Rebels' success this season has started with their starting pitchers. Friday starter
Erick Fedde (2-1) now has 30 strikeouts, five of which came in a no decision against the Lobos, where he allowed two runs on four hits in 6.0 innings of work.
Joey Lauria (2-1) entered the game in the seventh inning to earn the win while
Brayden Torres recorded the save. Junior
John Richy (3-0) picked up his third win of the year on Saturday as he allowed two runs on seven hits and recorded four strikeouts in 7.0 innings of work.
Kenny Oakley earned the save after allowing no runs on one hit and recorded three strikeouts. Sophomore
Bryan Bonnell did not factor into the decision in the Rebels' 5-4 loss in 12 innings on Sunday. Bonnell allowed three runs, two of which were earned, on seven hits and recorded one strikeout in 7.2 innings of work. Oakley allowed three runs, two of which were earned, and struck out six in 6.0 innings of work but did not factor into the decision against West Virginia on Tuesday.
Cody Roper (1-0) earned his first career win while Torres (3) recorded a one pitch save.
Joey Armstrong leads the Rebels from the plate this season with a .359 batting average.
Edgar Montes is hitting .315 and is tied for a team best 11 RBI.
Morgan Stotts is also hitting over .300 at .333 and is tied with Montes with 11 RBI.
SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
San José State (5-13, 2-4 Mountain West) comes into the three-game series against UNLV (11-4, 5-1 MW) having won only one of their last five games. The Spartans hosted the Jack Gifford Memorial Tournament last weekend and lost to Pacific (5-1), Washington (7-0) and UC Davis (5-2) but were able to beat UC Davis (4-3) on the final day of the tournament. SJSU also hosted the Aggies in midweek action on Tuesday, but fell 9-5 in Davis, Calif. After hosting UNLV, the Spartans will play a midweek game against San Francisco and then will head on the road for their longest roadtrip of the year as SJSU will travel to New Mexico and Washington State. Leading the Spartans this season is Brett Bautista, who is hitting .366 on the year. Matt Lopez has a team-high 11 RBI and has hit one home run this season. Matt Carroll leads the team with two home runs and has driven in eight RBI. Kyle Gallegos is a perfect 3-for-3 on the basepaths and has scored a team-high 10 runs. On the mound the Spartans are led by Jonathan Hernandez (0-1, 5.82 ERA) and Jace Puckett (0-1, 8.25 ERA), who have both made four starts this season. Johnny Melero (0-2, 5.40 ERA) has also made four starts and has one relief appearance to his credit. Kalei Contrades (2-0, 0.54 ERA) has made six appearances and has a team-high 15 strikeouts in 16.2 innings of work. Melero and Logan Handzlik (1-0, 4.82 ERA) are tied for second on the team with 10 strikeouts.
UNLV-SAN JOSÉ STATE HISTORY
The Rebels will renew a rivalry against Mountain West newcomer San Jose State this upcoming weekend. UNLV and SJSU were conference foes from 1985 through 1999 in the Big West Conference and the Western Athletic Conference. Overall, the Rebels have a 27-18 record against the Spartans, but their most recent meeting came in 1999. The last time UNLV traveled to San Jose was in 1998 and the Spartans took two of three from the Rebels.
ON DECK
The Rebels will stay on the road for a midweek against No. 8 Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. The Titans lead the overall series against UNLV 68-20 with the most recent meeting coming in 2008 when the Rebels were swept in a three-game series in Fullerton, Calif. UNLV hosted the Titans this fall and beat them in two exhibition contests. The Rebels are 1-11 in the last 12 meetings against Cal State Fullerton. UNLV will then return home to host North Dakota on Wednesday at 6:05 p.m. It will be the first meeting between the Rebels and UND.
