LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV baseball program will have one of its own participate in the Tokyo Summer Olympics later this week as former Rebel Blake Gailen will suit up for Team Israel, as the sport returns to the Olympic stage for the first time since the 2008 Games in Beijing.
 
Gailen has previously played for the Blue & White at the 2017 World Baseball Classic and the 2019 European Baseball Championship as well as the Africa/Europe 2020 Olympic Qualification Tournament in Italy, which Israel won to earn a trip to Tokyo.
 
The native of West Hills, California, made his way to Las Vegas and UNLV for the 2006 and 2007 seasons, after he started his collegiate career at Glendale Community College (2004-05).
 
In his two years as a Rebel, Gailen saw action in a total of 100 games with 79 starts. Gailen combined to bat .291 with 94 hits, 37 of which went for extra bases (22 doubles, 11 home runs and four triples), and contributed to 157 total bases as well as .486 slugging and .394 on-base percentages. He also scored 71 runs and knocked in 57 RBI. Off the diamond, Gailen was a two-time Academic All-Mountain West honoree.
 
During his senior season, Gailen led the squad in doubles (15), tied for the top spot in runs (49) and was the Mountain West's Player of the Week once (Feb. 12, 2007). Additionally, he finished the 2007 campaign ranked in the top five of nearly all offensive categories.
 
Following his days roaming the Earl E. Wilson Stadium outfield, Gailen embarked on a professional career, beginning with the Anderson Joes (Anderson, S.C.) in the independent South Coast League in the summer of 2007. Over the past 15 years, he has signed minor league contracts with the Los Angeles Angels, Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers, and reached Triple-A twice: Buffalo (2013) and Oklahoma City (2019). He has also played internationally in the Mexican League, Mexican Pacific Winter League and, most recently, in the Australian Baseball League with the Melbourne Aces (2020).
 
Gailen is in the midst of his eighth season playing for the Lancaster Barnstormers (Lancaster, Pennsylvania) in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. In his first campaign with the squad (2012), he led the league in batting (.338) and contributed 26 doubles, 22 home runs, 25 steals and 89 RBI. He was named the Atlantic League's Player of the Year as well as Baseball America's Independent League Player of the Year.
 
UNLV OLYMPIC NOTES:
-UNLV alum and Baltimore Orioles' right-hander Dean Kremer (2016), who has pitched for Team Israel in the past, will not be able to compete for the Blue & White in Tokyo because anyone listed on a team's 40-man roster has been prohibited to take part by Major League Baseball. Kremer holds a pair of "firsts" for an Israeli baseball player: first to be drafted by an MLB Team (2015) and first to pitch in the major leagues (2020).
 
OLYMPIC BASEBALL FORMAT:
-Six national teams – Israel, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, the United States and the Dominican Republic – qualified for the Olympics, which will consist of round-robin play (July 27-31) and a double-elimination tournament (July 31-August 6).
 
ISRAEL OPENING-ROUND SCHEDULE:
- vs. South Korea: Thursday, 3:00 am PT (WATCH)
- vs. USA: Friday, 3:00 am PT (WATCH)
- Knockout Round: July 31-August 5
- Bronze Medal Game: August 6
- Gold Medal Game: August 7