LAS VEGAS (UNLVrebels.com) – The UNLV baseball team (25-22, 11-16 MW) will travel to face the Fresno State Bulldogs (27-21, 14-10) for their final Mountain West series of the 2024 regular season.
 
SCHEDULE (all times in PST)
Friday, May 10 at 6:05 p.m.
Saturday, May 11 at 3:05 p.m.
Sunday, May 12 at 1:05 p.m.
 

MATCHUP HISTORY
All-time vs. FS: 46-72
In Fresno: 17-35, FS
Current Streak: FS, 9
Last Meeting: The Bulldogs took down the Rebels in all three games of the series in Las Vegas earlier in the season.


BROADCAST INFO: All three games will be streamed on the official Mountain West Network. Links to broadcasts as well as live stats are available on unlvrebels.com/sports/baseball/schedule.


THIS SEASON: The program earned their first set of Mountain West weekly honors in late February, Austin Kryszczuk picking up the league's Player of the Week award and Sam Simon being presented the Pitcher of the Week honor. The Rebels won all four games that week, including a win over Stanford, averaging 10.7 runs per game during that stretch while only allowing three per contest.

UNLV's offense continues to stand as the highlight of the program, sticking as a top-two team in the conference (second) from an offensive standpoint that stems from a strong core of intelligent batters. The team's RBI leader, Austin Kryszczuk, currently ranks at the Mountain West's top spot in RBI at 60, also sitting inside DI's top-30 in the statistical category at 29th overall.

The Scarlet & Gray's holds some other top marks in other spots among the conference as well, Kryszczuk solidifying themselves as one of the league's top hitters with a third-place 63 hits so far on the season. Parker Schmidt also emerges in the league's top-five qualifying batters this season in 38 games, hitting an average of .363 and earning at least one hit in four of the last five games he's appeared in.

The Rebels' pitching holds a handful of notable marks among the Mountain West Conference, Austin Cates distancing himself as the highest strikeout pitcher with 99 on the season that ranks eighth among NCAA DI pitchers. Holding a top-10 strikeout-to-walk ratio among all NCAA pitchers (sixth) as well at 7.62, he also sits second in the Mountain West in ERA with a minimum one inning pitched per game (3.26), third in the conference in runs allowed among those throwers previously mentioned.

UNLV's win against then-no. 23 ranked Stanford was a landmark win for the program, their first win against a ranked opponent since 2019. The Rebels' have produced double-digit runs eight times in 2024, a feat they achieved 13 times last season.

ABOUT FS: Fresno State will aim to bounce back after being swept by San Diego State, still holding the tiebreaker for the top spot into the lead heading into the final stretch of the season. The team has a pair of threatening hitters in Tommy Hopfe and Eddit Savlidar, ranking first and second, respectively, in the league in hits so far this season. The team also has strong bats in he presence of Ben Newton, leading the Mountain West in doubles this season with 21.

The Bulldogs' pitching will look to shutdown the Scarlet & Gray, Fresno State holding the best team ERA in the conference at 5.28. Jake Riding holds the best ERA among qualified pitchers on the roster at 4.05 (fourth in the MW), while Noah Beal fans the most batters out of the pitching staff at 68 through 60.1 innings pitched this season.


LAST YEAR: The Rebels had an overall record of 21-30 in the 2023 season, including a Mountain West record of 12-18. The program earned three Mountain West Player of the Week honors over the course of last season, including two Freshman of the Week mentions by then-freshman Reese Lueck and a Pitcher of the Week award for Noah Carabajal.