LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV baseball team will play a total of 55 regular season games in 2026, with five of those against two teams that participated in last season's NCAA Tournament, head coach Stan Stolte announced Wednesday. In all, the Rebels will play 32 home contests in Las Vegas with 31 of those on campus at Earl E. Wilson Stadium and one more – a March 23 affair against Arizona State – at the Las Vegas Ballpark in Downtown Summerlin.
In addition to the 24 Mountain West contests, the Scarlet & Gray's season slate is highlighted by 30 nonconference games against 15 squads that hail from 10 different leagues. Overall, these 15 teams compiled a .464 winning percentage, and five of those finished with winning records. Delving deeper, four – Austin Peay (ASUN), Cal State Fullerton (Big West), Milwaukee (Horizon) and Southern Illinois (Missouri Valley) finished in the top three of their respective conference standings. Moreover, six of 2026's foes had an end-of-year NCAA RPI that was 125th or better, with six of those in the top 90: Arizona State at No. 49, BYU at No. 62 and Austin Peay at No. 90.
As for the conference, the MW has grown to nine teams with the addition of Grand Canyon, and has seen the scheduling format and the amount of games played by each member altered this season. The Rebels will now play eight three-game series against each squad with four at home (San Jose State, New Mexico, Washington State and San Diego State) and four on the road (Air Force, Grand Canyon, UNR and Fresno State).
UNLV opens the season with a front-loaded home slate with 11 of its first 15 games at Earl E. Wilson Stadium, including the first four to start the year. The Rebels kick off the 2026 campaign with a four-game set versus Austin Peay (Feb. 13-15). After playing a midweek road game against UC Riverside (Feb. 17), the run continues with a three-game series versus Bradley (Feb. 20-22) followed by Western Michigan (Feb. 24-25). UNLV will then head for its first road series of the season where they will face Santa Clara (Feb. 27-March 1) before coming back home against Northern Colorado (March 3-4).
The Hustlin' Rebels will travel to Minneapolis for a trio of games at U.S. Bank Stadium against Minnesota (March 6), Southern Illinois (March 7) and Northwestern (March 8) before returning home on March 10 against UC Riverside. Mountain West action begins for the Scarlet & Gray against Air Force (March 13-15) and will then have a week off of MW competition. UNLV will play four non-conference games during that time, all in Las Vegas, against Cal State Fullerton (March 17), Utah Tech (March 21-22) and Arizona State for their annual neutral contest at Las Vegas Ballpark on March 23.
From March 27 until the conclusion of the regular season on May 16, the Rebels will play 21 contests against Mountain West foes: versus San Jose State (March 27-29), versus New Mexico (April 2-4), at Grand Canyon (April 10-12), versus Washington State (April 17-19), at UNR (April 24-26), at Fresno State (May 8-10) and at San Diego State (May 14-16). There are eight nonconference tilts in this time frame with one against CSU Bakersfield (March 30), one at Arizona State (April 8), two at Utah Tech (April 14, April 28), three versus Milwaukee (May 1-3) and one versus BYU (May 5).
The MW Championship will be hosted for the second consecutive year at Sloan Park in Mesa, Ariz., from May 20-23.
