LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV Rebels return to Las Vegas this weekend for a three-game, nonconference series against the Creighton Bluejays that runs Friday through Sunday at Earl E. Wilson Stadium. The first contest is scheduled for a 6:05 pm first pitch Friday evening, while Saturday and Sunday are slated for 2:05 pm and 1:05 pm, respectively.
 
FOLLOW ALONG: Fans can follow this weekend's series between UNLV and Creighton through live stats, live video and social media. Links to stats and live video can be found online at UNLVRebels.com in the "schedule" section of the team's baseball page as well as on the team's social media channels.
 
Saturday's game will be aired locally and online through the Las Vegas Network's KBAD – 920am The Game.
 
Inning-by-inning updates will be provided at @UNLVbaseball, the team's official Twitter account.
 
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING: UNLV and Creighton rekindle a series that dates back to 1990 and has featured the teams play a total of 11 times, with 10 of those contested in Las Vegas. The Rebels lead the head-to-head series 9-2 and have won three straight and four of the past five.
 
The Rebels and Bluejays first squared off in a three-game series during the 1990 campaign – all UNLV victories – that took place mid-March (16th-18th) in Las Vegas. Most recently, the Mountain West and Big East squads met on March 31, 2014 in Omaha, Nebraska, in an affair won 3-1 by Creighton.
 
ON DECK: UNLV hits the road for a pair of midweek games in Lubbock, Texas, against the No. 3 Texas Tech Red Raiders (8-1) at Dan Law field at Rip Griffin Park. The Red Raiders are ranked highest in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association's Top 25 Poll. The West Texas squad also comes in No. 4 in Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and Perfect Game's polls, and No. 5 in D1Baseball.com's survey.
 
The two-game series begins Tuesday at 6:05 pm CT (4:05 pm PT) and concludes Wednesday at 1:05 pm CT (11:05 am PT).
 
SCOUTING THE REBELS: UNLV (1-7) enters the weekend series after playing its first road game and extra-inning affair Tuesday against the UC Riverside Highlanders in Riverside, California. The 3-2 loss in 11 innings at UCR marked the fifth time this season that was decided in the seventh inning or later for the Rebels. Unfortunately, the Scarlet & Gray is 1-4 in these tightly contested affairs.
 
The Rebels are paced offensively by Eric Bigani and Alex Sardina who are hitting .353 (12-for-34) and .333 (7-for-21), respectively. Besides leading the team in average and hits, Bigani is also first in hits (12), extra-base hits (five), RBI (seven), total bases (18) and slugging percentage (.529).  James Gamble is hitting .314 (11-for-35) with two doubles and one triple, and has added five runs and two RBI. Jack-Thomas Wold is hitting .310 (9-for-29) with four doubles, five runs and two RBI.  
 
SCOUTING THE BLUEJAYS: Creighton (3-3) will face its second straight Mountain West opponent after going 1-2 last week in the Bay Area against the San Jose State Spartans. This weekend's nonconference series against UNLV continues the Bluejays' season-opening 10-game road swing to start the season. The Omaha, Nebraska, squad began the year with a 2-1 showing against the Seattle Redhawks in Seattle, and will cap this stretch with a tilt in Lawrence, Kansas, against the KU Jayhawks next Wednesday.
 
CU is hitting .263 as a team, and is paced by four players posting .316 or better batting averages with a minimum of four hits. David Vilches leads the team in average (.375), RBI (six), total bases (11), slugging percentage (.688) and on-base percentage (.545), while tying for the top spot in hits (six) and doubles (two). Parker Upton, who is hitting .263, has scored six runs and knocked in five RBI, and notched five hits, three of which have gone for extra bases with two doubles and one homer.
 
The Bluejays pitching staff owns a 2.92 ERA in 49.1 innings with 51 strikeouts against 48 hits and 12 walks. The hurlers have allowed 28 runs, 16 of which are earned. Dylan Tebrake sits 2-0 on the year with a 0.00 ERA and 13 strikeouts in 12.0 innings of work.
 
LOOKING BACK: UNLV was suffered a heartbreaking, 3-2 road loss in 11 innings Tuesday against the UC Riverside Highlanders. UCR struck early for a pair of unearned runs off a total of four errors in the first two innings of the affair; however, the Rebels fought back with one run in both the fifth and eighth to draw even at 2-all. In the 11th, UNLV got two on, but was unable to capitalize, while UCR was able to end the contest with back-to-back, one-out hits in the bottom half of the frame.
 
The Rebels got a hit from eight different batters and an RBI from Austin Kryszczuk (sac fly in the fifth) and James Gamble (game-tying RBI single in the eighth) and runs from Eric Bigani and Trevor Rosenberg.
 
UNLV used nine pitchers in the game, allowing only one earned run off of nine hits with seven strikeouts and four walks. Noah Mattera got the start and went 3.0 innings, giving up two unearned runs off of one hit. Troy Balko (1.0 IP), Isaiah Montoya (1.0), Austin Bryan (0.2), Bradley Spooner (0.1), Ty Pohlmann (1.0), Conner Woods (1.0) and Haydn King (2.0) combined to blank the Highlanders for 7.0 innings. Larry Quaney was the hard-loser, allowing the game-winner off of two hits in the 11th.