April 15, 2014
UNLV Game Notes - ASU & AFA
LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - No. 16/20 UNLV baseball (25-11/13-5 Mountain West) heads back on the road to face Arizona State (19-14) for a midweek game and then will continue on to face Air Force (10-25/2-13 MW) for a three-game series, which will begin on Thursday, weather permitting. For the second consecutive year, the Rebels and Sun Devils will play a midweek home-and-home series. The game on Tuesday, which is slated to start at 6:30 p.m. PT, will be the first meeting this season between the two schools and ASU will return the trip on May 13. Fans can watch on off of a link at TheSunDevils.com. On Wednesday, UNLV will continue its road trip by traveling to Air Force for a three-game series against the Falcons. The series, which is usually played over the weekend, was moved up one day because of Easter. Weather permitting, the two teams will face each other on Thursday and Friday at 2:00 p.m. PT. First pitch for the series finale is set for 11:00 a.m. PT. Fans can watch the action live at UNLVRebels.com.
SCOUTING THE REBELS
No. 16/20 UNLV baseball (25-11/13-5 Mountain West) heads back on the road to face Arizona State (19-14) for a midweek game and then will continue on to face Air Force (10-25/2-13 MW) for a three-game series. The Rebels, who are ranked No. 16 by Perfect Game, No. 20 by Baseball America and No. 25 by Collegiate Baseball News, are most recently coming off of a midweek split against No. 24 (PG) Arkansas and a series victory over conference foe San Jose State. The Rebels defeated the Razorbacks 10-7 on Tuesday, but lost to Arkansas 9-2 on Wednesday. Those two games capped off UNLV's longest road stretch of the season, where the Rebels finished 6-3. The Rebels won the first two games against the Spartans, 9-1 and 2-1, respectively, but lost their longest game of the year (14 innings, 3:49) 4-3 on getaway day. From the mound, Erick Fedde (7-1, 1.69 ERA) leads the Rebels and the Mountain West with 69 strikeouts in 64.0 innings of work. Saturday starter John Richy (6-2, 2.55 ERA) is third with 57 strikeouts and his coming off of a complete game performance against San Jose State where he struck out a nine batters. In his last three outings, Richy has allowed only one walk and has struck out 30 in 26.2 innings. Kenny Oakley (3-2, 2.06 ERA) is third with 54 strikeouts in 52.1 innings pitched. Sunday starter Bryan Bonnell (4-2, 1.81 ERA) has struck out 31 batters this season, but what is more impressive is that he has surrendered only five walks in a team-high 69.2 innings of work. Brayden Torres (1-1, 1.77 ERA) leads the team with six saves and has struck out 23 batters in 20.1 innings of work. From the plate the Rebels are led by T.J. White, who is batting .319 and has scored a team-high 30 runs. He also leads the team on the base paths with 12 steals and has recorded a team-high 29 RBI. Edgar Montes (.317), Erik VanMeetren (.303) and A.J. Hernandez (.300) are all hitting at or over the .300 mark for the Rebels this season.
SCOUTING THE SUN DEVILS
Arizona State (19-14) comes into the midweek game having lost three of its last five games, but the Sun Devils have won six of their last nine games. ASU has done well against top 25 opponents this season, boasting a 6-4 record with wins over UCLA, Oregon State, Tennessee and Oklahoma State. The Sun Devils have played their last seven games at home against Pac-12 opponents. Most recently they are coming off of a series victory over California, beating them 3-2, in 10 innings, on Friday and 4-1 on Saturday. ASU dropped the series finale in 10 innings 5-3. Righthanded pitcher Seth Martinez (2-0, 6.91 ERA) is projected to go for the Sun Devils on Tuesday against UNLV. The freshman has allowed 12 runs, 11 of which are earned, on 19 hits and has struck out eight in 14.1 innings of work. From the plate, ASU is led by Nathaniel Causey, who is hitting .365. He has a team-high 10 doubles and also leads the team with 20 walks. RJ Ybarra (.330), Dalton Dinatale (.325), Christopher Beall (.318) and Drew Stankiewicz (.302) are all hitting over .300 for the Sun Devils. Ybarra and Dinatale lead the team with 28 RBI and Trever Allen leads the team with three home runs this season.
UNLV-ARIZONA STATE HISTORY
Arizona State leads the overall series over UNLV 57-14-1, but the two teams have only met six times since the turn of the century. In that time, the Rebels are 1-6 against the Sun Devils. Last season, the two teams had a home-and-home series, where ASU won 11-3 in Las Vegas and 5-2 in Tempe. The last time the Rebels beat the Sun Devils in Tempe was May 6, 1987.
SCOUTING THE FALCONS
Air Force (10-25/2-13 Mountain West) has struggled in 2014, but as of late, the Falcons are playing much better. Coming into this week, AFA has won four of its last five games. They beat New Mexico State at home and then traveled to Northern Colorado and South Dakota State. The Falcons beat UNC 13-5 and won the series in Brookings, S.D. against the Jackrabbits. Air Force won a pitchers duel in the first game, 2-1, lost the second game 2-1 in 10 innings, but then bounced back and took the rubber match 4-2. The Falcons will host Adams State on Tuesday before hosting UNLV later in the week. The weather forecast for Thursday's game is for low temperatures and possible snow, so the Rebels and Falcons could potentially play a doubleheader on Friday. Cameron White (2-6, 5.12 ERA) will pitch in the first game of the series for Air Force. He is second in the conference with 67 strikeouts in 63.1 innings of work. Freshman Griffin Jax (2-6, 5.62 ERA) is slated to pitch in the second game for the Falcons and Steven Trojan (2-5, 4.15 ERA) is slated to go in game three. From the plate, Air Force is led by Tyler Jones, who is hitting .308 and leads the team with 18 RBI, 15 doubles, 17 runs scores and five stolen bases. David Thomas, Seth Kline and Russell Williams each have two home runs this season to lead the team.
UNLV-AIR FORCE HISTORY
UNLV leads the overall series against Air Force 86-24, which dates back to 1969. The two teams met earlier this year in Las Vegas, and the Rebels swept the Falcons. Last season, UNLV swept Air Force in Las Vegas, but dropped the Friday contest in Colorado Springs. The Rebels finished 5-1 against the Falcons in 2013 and are 14-4 since Tim Chambers took over the program.
ON DECK
UNLV returns to Las Vegas and resume Mountain West play against New Mexico. The Rebels and Lobos will play a three-game series beginning on Friday at 6:05 p.m. PT. Game two and three of the series are slated to start at 1:05 p.m. PT.
-UNLV-
