LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV baseball team was picked to finish tied for third place with the New Mexico Lobos in the 2021 Mountain West Preseason Poll, which was voted on by the Conference's seven head coaches. Additionally, the coaches tabbed junior catcher
Eric Bigani and sophomore second baseman
Edarian Williams to the MW's Preseason Team.
The San Diego State Aztecs garnered six first-place votes and accumulated a total of 36 points to finish atop the preseason rankings for the third straight year. The Fresno State Bulldogs claimed the seventh first-place vote and amassed 29 points for second place. UNLV and UNM tied for third with 23 points. UNR (16 points), Air Force (11) and San Jose State (nine) rounded out fifth through seventh, respectively.
Bigani was named to the 2020 MW All-Conference Team after starting all 17 games – 15 of which were behind the plate – for the Rebels, following a two-year stint at Cypress College. The native of Anaheim, California, concluded the year ranked in the top 100 of four NCAA statistical categories: 34th in doubles (seven), 35th in hits (26), 83rd in hits per game (1.53) and 86th in doubles per game (0.41). He led the Scarlet & Gray in batting average (.394) and hits, and registered 10 multiple-hit efforts. He was second on the squad in runs (13), doubles, RBI (14), total bases (35) and on-base percentage (.431). Moreover, he was near the top in at-bats (66) and slugging percentage (.530). In the final five games of the shortened 2020 campaign, he hit .526 and bumped his batting average 54 points with a 10-for-19 performance in the batter's box, and contributed six runs and five RBI.
Williams, a local product out of Rancho High School, has started 73 contests over his two-year career, and has compiled a .328 batting average with 99 hits, 21 of which have gone for extra bases (16 doubles, four triples and one home run) and help produce a .417 slugging percentage, with 36 RBI and 35 runs scored. In 2020, he started all 17 games at second base, and had 19 hits (three doubles and three triples), scored 14 runs and knocked in 10 RBI. Those three triples in '20 placed him 10th nationally and 22nd in triples per game (0.19). In his first collegiate campaign, he earned MW Co-Freshman of the Year honors.
2021 SEASON: UNLV Baseball will play a total of 44 regular-season games in 2021, with 36 of those against Mountain West competition and eight versus three nonconference squads. In all, the Rebels will play 25 home contests at Earl E. Wilson Stadium and 19 away from the Las Vegas Valley.
The Scarlet & Gray will play a three-game home and away series against each MW team that consists of a doubleheader and a single contest. Eleven of the 12 conference series will take place on weekends (Saturday-Sunday) except for the home tilt against Fresno State on April 2-3 (Friday-Saturday).
The 2021 season gets underway with 10 straight home games spread over three weekends, with visits from NMSU, UNR (Feb. 27-28) and New Mexico (March 6-7).
