2016 UNLV Baseball Weekly Notes: Week Six

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV Rebels will travel to Riverside, Calif., to play Tuesday (6:00 pm) and Wednesday (3:00 pm) against the UC Riverside Highlanders. Both contests will take place at the Riverside Sports Complex.

This two-game set marks the first midweek action for UNLV this season after playing three weekend series against Texas (Away/Feb. 19-21), West Virginia (Home/Feb. 26-27) and San Jose State (Home/March 4-6). In all, the Rebels will play a total of 10 games that take place either on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday this season.

The squads split a home-and-home series last season. UCR won the first encounter at home 8-6 in 11 innings on April 21, while UNLV came out on top a week later, 5-4, in Las Vegas. Overall, the Highlanders own an eight-game advantage, 23-15, in the overall series; however, the Rebels have claimed four of the last six outings.

TUNE IN, WATCH & LISTEN: The UNLV Rebels' games at UC Riverside will have live audio as well as live stats to accompany both contests. Links for audio and stats can be found at UNLVRebels.com.

50 YEARS & COUNTING: The UNLV Rebels first began playing collegiate baseball during the 1967 campaign. UNLV lost its first contest, a 7-6 decision to Phoenix College. Since that initial affair, the Scarlet & Gray has amassed an overall mark of 1,518-1,243-8 for a .550 winning percentage.

Throughout the season, there will be various contests and promotions centered around the 50th year of Rebel baseball. The program kicked off the year-long celebration with ceremonial first pitches thrown by alumni that individually represented the five decades of baseball at UNLV at the home opener vs. West Virginia. The five that tossed first pitches were Fred Dallimore (former head coach/1967-76), Steve Moser (player/1977-86), Rod Soesbe (former head coach/1987-96), Eric Nielsen (player/1997-2006) and T.J. White (player/2007-16).

ON DECK: The UNLV Rebels return from their short Golden State excursion to host the Ohio State Buckeyes four times. UNLV and Ohio State will play a three-game set March 11-13 and then, once more, on March 15. The contests on Friday, March 11 and Tuesday, March 15 are slated for 6:05 pm first pitches, while the Saturday, March 12 (2:05 pm) and Sunday, March 13 (1:05 pm) are afternoon matinees.

PROMOTIONAL ITEMS OF INTEREST
Friday, March 11: Baseball Hat Giveaway (while supplies last)
Tuesday, March 15: $2 Tuesdays ... $2 tickets, $2 hot dogs & $2 off beer. Fans can purchase $2 tickets online at UNLVTickets.com through Monday, March 14 at noon.

LOOKING BACK ONE WEEK: The UNLV Rebels opened the 2016 Mountain West Conference season at home last weekend with a visit from the San Jose State Spartans. The Rebels won the first and third games by scores of 2-1 and 4-2, respectively, while the Spartans rallied from a five-run deficit to claim an 11-6 decision in the second affair.

In game one, all three runs were the result of solo home runs. UNLV's Kyle Isbel snapped a scoreless tie with a shot in the seventh inning, while both sides produced one apiece in the eighth. Shane Timmons pulled SJSU even in the top half of the eight, while Nick Rodriguez pushed his Rebels ahead for good in their at-bat.

D.J. Myers went six innings for UNLV and did not allow a run, while he struck out seven against three walks and three hits. Myers handed the ball to Ben Wright (1-1), who picked up the win in three innings of work. Wright gave up one run off of one hit.

In game two, UNLV's offense awoke earlier than the day before with a four-run third. Through four innings, the home side led by five, 6-1; however, SJSU countered with 10 unanswered runs between the fifth and eighth stanzas to claim victory.

Rodriguez and Isbel got the Rebels started with a walk and single, respectively, to begin the third. The pair moved up one base at a time when Spartan starter Logan Handzlik was called for a balk and then followed that with a wild pitch to help UNLV stake itself to a 1-0 lead. After getting a quick out, Handzlik was unable to find the strike zone and he walked Payton Squier. Corey Pool then cleared the bases with a three-run home run.

In the fourth, SJSU scored once to cut its deficit to three runs at 4-1, but UNLV upped its margin to five when Justin Jones laced a two-run single down the right-field line. Cooper Esmay and Squier scored on the hit.

Unfortunately, the momentum swung over to the third-base dugout and the Spartans, as they scored three in the fifth, five in the seventh and twice more in the eighth.

Dean Kremer started the contest for UNLV and went six innings, but surrendered six runs (five eanred) off of seven hits. Kremer was relieved by Blaze Bohall (1-2), who was tagged with the loss in three frames of action. Bohall allowed five runs off of six hits.

In the finale, Kenny Oakley (1-2) went the distance on the mound for his first win of the season. Oakley was touched for two runs off of 11 hits and forced SJSU to strand nine runners throughout the contest.

The Spartans took an early 1-0 lead through two only to see the Rebels answer with two runs in the third off a bases-loaded walk issued to Squier and a sac fly by Pool. UNLV upped its cushion to two in the sixth, 3-1, off an RBI single by Rodriguez. The visitors from the Bay Area shaved one run off their deficit in the seventh with a home, but Pool got it back with another sac fly.

As a team, the Rebels hit .242 with 22 hits in 91 at-bats. Eight of those hits went for extra bases with three doubles, three home runs and two triples. They scored 12 runs and had 11 RBI.

Isbel led the team in average (.455), at-bats (11), runs (four), hits (five), total bases (11), slugging (1.000) and on-base percentage (.500). Three of his five hits went for extra bases with one of each.

Squier and Pool hit .444 and .375, respectively. The former had four hits, two runs and one RBI, while the latter provided three hits, five RBI and a pair of runs.

The pitching staff combined to throw 27.0 innings and allowed 14 runs (13 earned) for a 4.33 ERA. Myers owned a 0.00 ERA and limited SJSU to a .143 batting average, while Oakley's ERA was 2.00.