March 6, 2014

Week 4 - UNLV vs. New Mexico

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - UNLV baseball (8-3) resumes Mountain West play with a trip to Albuquerque, N.M., to face New Mexico (8-4-1). UNLV had to play a doubleheader on Saturday after its Friday night contest with Air Force was rained out. The Rebels, who are coming four consecutive wins, swept the MW opening series, beating the Falcons 6-1 and 13-3 on Saturday and 12-1 on Sunday. UNLV also played a rare Monday contest against UC Riverside and beat the Highlanders 5-4 in 10 innings by way of a walk-off home run. The Rebels and Lobos will square off on Friday at 6:05 p.m. MT/5:05 p.m. PT, on Saturday at 2:05 p.m. PT/1:05 p.m. PT and on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. MT/12:05 p.m. PT. Fans can watch the all three contests between New Mexico and UNLV online thanks to the Mountain West Network.

SCOUTING THE REBELS
UNLV baseball (8-3) heads back on the road after winning four consecutive games in Las Vegas last weekend. The Rebels, again, relied on strong starting pitching to get three wins over Air Force and one win over UC Riverside. Erick Fedde (2-1) now ranks No. 14 in the coutry with 25 strikeouts, seven of which came against Air Force on Saturday. He allowed only one run on four hits in 7.2 innings of work against the Falcons. Junior John Richy (2-0) picked up his second win of the year in the evening game on Saturday, as he allowed three runs, two of which were earned, on seven hits and struck out six in 6.0 innings of work. Kenny Oakley pitched 3.0 innings to get the save and allowed only two hits and struck out two. On Sunday, Bryan Bonnell (2-1) allowed only one run on five hits and struck out six in 7.2 innings of work. Oakley (0-1) got the nod on the rare Monday contest for the Rebels and pitched well, allowing no runs on five hits and striking out six in 5.0 innings of work, but did not factor in the decision. Cody Roper and Brayden Torres both made appearances in the game, but Joey Lauria (1-0) picked up his first win as a Rebel as he allowed no runs on two htis and struck out one in 1.0 inning of work. From the plate, UNLV has been led by Joey Armstrong this season. Armstrong is hitting .391 and is tied for a team-high 11 runs. Edgar Montes is hitting .375 and ranks second on the team with 10 RBI. Erik VanMeetren has started nine games and has played in 10 of the 11 total games for the Rebels. VanMeetren hit his first home run of the year against Air Force and has a team-high seven walks. Johnathan Torres was the hero on Monday after he hit a walk-off home run to give the Rebels a 5-4 lead over UC Riverside. That hit was his only hit in the game and he is now hitting .300 on the year.

SCOUTING THE LOBOS
The New Mexico Lobos (8-4-1) are coming off of a four game sweep of Northern Colorado and a loss at No. 30 Texas Tech. UNM beat Northern Colorado 5-2 on Friday, 17-1 on Saturday and swept a doubleheader on Sunday winning 12-3 and 8-1. They outscored the Bears 42-7 in four games. In their 9-3 loss to the Red Raiders, New Mexico scored first, but struggled from the mound, having to use six different pitchers in the game. Jared Holley leads the Lobos from the plate and is hitting .426 this season. Chase Harris, who is hitting .379, leads the team with two home runs, 18 RBI and is 4-of-7 on the base paths. John Pustay (.352), Alex Real (.347), Jered Meek (.321) Jack Zoellner (.320) and Sam Haggerty (.315) are all hitting over .300 for the Lobos. From the mound, New Mexico is led by its ace Drew Bridges (2-1, 2.30 ERA). Bridges has a team-high 15 strikeouts in 15.2 innings of work. Saturday starter Colton Thomson (1-1, 2.81) and Sunday starter Josh Walker (2-1, 4.29 ERA) have pitched the most innings on the team at 16.0 and 21.0, respectively.

UNLV-NEW MEXICO HISTORY
The Rebels return to the road to face conference foe New Mexico. UNLV went 1-6 against the Lobos last season, and they were swept by UNM in three games at Lobo Field. The Rebels hold an 80-66 overall record against the Lobos, despite only winning two games in the last 14 meetings.

ON DECK
After the Rebels first conference road trip, UNLV will return to Earl E. Wilson Stadium to host a midweek game against West Virginia. It will mark the second meeting between the two schools and the first since 2000, which West Virginia won 15-6 in Las Vegas.