UNLV vs. Fresno State Game Notes

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - UNLV baseball (6-2) heads on the road for its first weekend series away from Las Vegas in 2015. The Rebels will also open Mountain West play as they travel to face Fresno State (3-5). The two teams will play at 6:35 p.m. PT on Friday and Saturday and will wrap up its three game series on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. PT. UNLV has won four straight and six of its last seven games, while Fresno State has lost its last five after opening the season with a sweep of UC Irvine. Fans can watch the Rebels and Bulldogs on Friday and Sunday, as those games will be streamed online thanks to the Mountain West Network. Junior Bryan Bonnell (1-0, 0.93 ERA) is slated to start on Friday, sophomore D.J. Myers (2-0 0. 61 ERA) is projected to pitch on Saturday and junior Kenny Oakley (0-0, 3.86 ERA) is probable for Sunday. After facing the Bulldogs, UNLV will stay on the road for two midweek games at Oklahoma State.

SCOUTING THE REBELS

UNLV baseball (6-2) is coming off a four-game series sweep of Pacific last week. The Rebels beat the Tigers 6-2 on Friday, 10-4 on Saturday, 3-1 on Sunday and 11-1 on Monday. UNLV bounced back after suffering a 7-0 midweek loss to Grand Canyon. The Rebels opened the season with a series victory over No. 23 Nebraska. UNLV dropped their series opener with the Huskers in front of a record 3,173 fans 2-0, but bounced back to defeat Nebraska 5-3 on Saturday and then recorded a shut out with a 3-0 win on Sunday. It was the first series win over a ranked team since 2014 when the Rebels swept No. 24 New Mexico. It was also the first time since the Rebels joined the Mountain West that they shut out a ranked team. The theme to the Rebels' success this season has been the strong pitching performances by their starters and relievers. The Rebels lead the Mountain West and rank 26th in the country with a team earned run average of 2.15 and the staff is holding opponents to a .242 batting average. Paving the way for the Rebel starters has been sophomore transfer D.J. Myers (2-0, 0.61 ERA). Myers has recorded a quality start in each of his two starts, allowing zero runs on three hits in 7.2 innings of work against Nebraska and allowing one run on seven hits in 7.0 innings against Pacific. Myers also holds a 12:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio to open the year. Junior Bryan Bonnell (1-0, 0.93 ERA) has also pitched well for the Rebels and earned his first victory of the season against Pacific. Junior Kenny Oakley (0-0, 3.86 ERA) leads the team with 14 strikeouts. Juniors Zack Hartman (1) and Brayden Torres (1) have been valuable out of the bullpen and the both have made two appearances and have each picked up a save. Senior Joey Lauria (1-0, 1.59 ERA) and junior transfer Ben Wright (0-0, 1, 1.74 ERA) have made a team-high three appearances out of the bullpen. From the plate, UNLV has been led by freshman Payton Squier, who is hitting .560 (14-for-25), which leads the team and the Mountain West. Squier also leads the conference with an on-base percentage of .586. Classmates Austin Anderson and Nick Rodriguez are also hitting over .300 at .333 (5-for-15) and .304 (7-for-23), respectively. Senior Edgar Montes has hit the lone home run for the Rebels in 2015 and leads the team with three doubles. Montes' batting average in 2015 is at .321 (9-for-28).

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS

Fresno State (3-5, 0-3 Mountain West) comes into its series with UNLV on a five-game losing streak. The Bulldogs opened the season with a sweep of UC Irvine but then fell to Cal Poly, were swept by Nevada, Reno and most recently fell to USC, 9-8 in 10 innings. From the plate Fresno State is led by Austin Guibor and Taylor Tempel. Both have played in all eight games and Guibor is hitting .471 and Tempel is hitting .421. Taylor Ward, who is hitting .333, leads the team with two home runs and 10 RBI. The Bulldogs are expecting to start sophomore Jimmy Lambert (0-0, 3.12 ERA) from the mound on Friday, Dylan Lee (0-1, 14.14 ERA) on Saturday and Garret Mundell (0-0, 5.23 ERA). Mark Reece has made a team-high four appearances and leads the team with 10 strikeouts.

UNLV - FRESNO STATE SERIES HISTORY

UNLV and Fresno State have met a total of 70 times and the Bulldogs lead the series 39-31. The Rebels have won the last two games and five of the last seven games against Fresno State. The Bulldogs joined the Mountain West in 2013, but before that UNLV had not played Fresno State since 1999.

ON DECK

UNLV will stay on the road as the Rebels travel to play two midweek games at Oklahoma State. It will be the first time the Cowboys and Rebels have met on the diamond since 2009. OSU comes into the game on a three-game winning streak over UNLV and holds a 15-6 overall record against the Rebels. This will be only the third time UNLV has played the Cowboys in Stillwater, Okla. (teams played at OSU in 2009 and in 1986).