LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV baseball team will play a trio of games at the Cambria College Classic at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. First up will be the host Gophers of Minnesota on Friday, March 6 at 5 p.m. PT, followed by Southern Illinois on Saturday, March 7 at 9 a.m. PT and will conclude with Northwestern on Sunday, March 8 at 12 p.m. PT.

Minnesota swept Milwaukee in a pair of mid-week matchups, hitting the ten run rule in Tuesday's 14-4 win and taking them down 6-2 on Wednesday. Southern Illinois defeated North Dakota State 9-4 on Tuesday night as Cecil Lofton led SIU with four RBI, while Julio Guerrero stole two bases and collected three hits. Northwestern was recently swept by No. 5 Georgia Tech this past weekend in Atlanta. 

FOLLOW ALONG: Fans can follow this weekend's series at the Cambria College Classic 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 official social media channels.

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING: The Hustlin' Rebels will face Minnesota for the first time in program history, and this will be the first time since 2010 the Hustlin' Rebels and Wildcats will face off. Additionally, the UNLV/Southern Illinois series dates back to the 1971 season.

LOOKING BACK: The Hustlin' Rebels are winners of eight of their last ten games, as they most recently split its two-game home series to Northern Colorado.

In game one, UNLV batters walked a season-high 15 times, with all nine starters recording at least one walk. UNLV's pitching staff was equally sharp as Reese Lueck worked through five innings, scattering eight while limiting the damage to one run. LJ Manning and Colton Sundloff combined for two scoreless frames, allowing just one hit and striking out two to seal the run-rule victory.

In game two, starting pitcher Yates Bland went 4.0 innings where he allowed six hits, four earned runs, three walks and three strikeouts. Drew Barragan has tallied a hit in 12 of the 13 games he has played, including three games of three or more hits and eight games of two or more hits. Marcos Rosales has extended his hitting streak to 12 games with his two hits today and added a trio of walks. Gavin Taylor started his first game today at first base and the primary catcher recorded a pair of hits and scored a run.

NEWCOMERS MAKE AN IMMEDIATE IMPACT: The UNLV Rebels' 2026 roster features 27 newcomers with 26 transfers and one true freshman; however, two of the transfers will not play this year due to injury, Drew Charney) and Kevin Smith. Seventeen of those newcomers made their Rebel debuts in the season-opening, nonconference series against the Austin Peay Governors. Delving deeper, nine of those first-year Rebels have had a minimum of two plate appearances, while eight more have pitched in at least one game. Nin Burns II and Marcos Rosales have appeared in all 14 contests, as the former has started all games in right field, while the latter has gotten 13 starts at second base. Drew Barragan and senior Ayden Garcia have seen action in 13 and 11 games, respectively. Jayden Sanchez has seen time in 13 games as well, with six seven in center field. On the mound, the Scarlet & Gray has gotten starts from three newcomers - Parker Dillhoff, Felix Ong and Yates Bland.

REBELS PICKED SIXTH: UNLV was predicted to finish the 2026 conference season in sixth place (32 points) by the nine head coaches. The Rebels was slotted behind UNR (60 points/five first-place votes), Fresno State (55 points/three votes), conference newcomer Grand Canyon (47 points/one first-place votes), New Mexico (36 points) and San Jose State (33 points), who was picked to finish first through fifth, respectively. San Diego State (30 points), Washington State (17) and Air Force (14) were tabbed to conclude the year in seventh, eighth and ninth.

LANE TABBED TO MW'S PRESEASON TEAM: UNLV baseball's Carson Lane was named to the MW's Preseason All-Conference Team, which was voted on by the league's nine head coaches. The honor marks his first preseason All-Conference selection during his time with the Scarlet & Gray. Lane, a junior right-handed pitcher from Huntington Beach, California, was named to last season's All-MW First Team in his second season with the Hustlin' Rebels where he posted the second-most wins in MW action (5) and the third-most strikeouts in conference play (61). In MW action, Lane registered a 4.45 ERA in 56.2 innings after allowing 28 earned runs (30 total). He posted the fourth best opponent batting average at .230 and his season was highlighted by helping throw UNLV's first no-hitter since 2003 where he went eight innings striking out nine Fresno State batters on three walks en route to winning MW Pitcher of the Week and College Baseball Foundation (CBF) National Pitcher of the Week accolades. The junior led the Rebels with 85 strikeouts, third among MW pitchers and recorded the second-best ERA in the MW (4.23) with a 6-4 record.

REBEL RETURNERS: Including All-Mountain West First Team honoree in Carson Lane, the Scarlet & Gray will see veterans Cooper Sheff and Gunnar Myro make their returns to the starting lineup. Sheff, a redshirt sophomore infielder, played in 53 games and started 49 of them where he batted .281 (fifth on the team) with 54 hits (fourth on the team) including 12 doubles, a triple and six home runs. The Las Vegas native brought in 30 RBI, scored the third-most runs on the team (41) and was named the MW Freshman of the Week three times last season. Myro, a junior from Las Vegas, played in 43 games with 35 starts where he batted .260 with a career-high 32 hits including four doubles and three home runs.

NEW REBEL PITCHERS: The Rebels welcome 27 newcomers, including key starting pitchers in Parker Dillhoff and Felix Ong. Dillhoff, who transferred from Louisiana, made nine appearances with two starts, throwing 7.1 innings with 10 hits allowed along with 11 earned runs. He struck out seven batters and collected a season-high four strikeouts in his Rajun Cajun debut where he threw two innings in a start against San Jose State. Ong, a sophomore transfer out of Florida, pitched in three games out of the UF bullpen as a true freshman. He fanned six batters in 3 1/3 innings pitched.

SCOUTING THE REBELS: UNLV went 31-23 and punched its ticket to the Credit Union 1 Mountain West Championship for the first time since 2022 and 21st overall tournament berth. The Scarlet & Gray earned the four seed where they fell to the fifth-seeded Aztecs of San Diego State, 8-0, in the first round contest. The Scarlet & Gray returns 10 letterwinners from last year's team, and that includes four positional players and two starting pitchers – six pitchers in all. Additionally, there are 27 newcomers donning the Scarlet & Gray this season, 13 pitchers and 14 positional players. Moreover, catcher Drew Charney and outfielder Kevin Smith will miss the 2026 season due to injuries, leaving 11 positional players that are newcomers, including one true freshman, Noah Kubasky.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS: Minnesota currently stand at the top of the Big Ten Conference in total stolen bases with 34 and in triples hit with five. They also rank third for total home runs with 18. Michael Lippe and Ty Allen stand as leaders in the Big Ten for certain statistical categories. Lippe currently leads the conference in walks with 13 throughout the first ten games, while Allen is tied for most triples hit with three.

Southern Illinois brings back key arms to anchor the pitching staff, including Meade Johnson and Dylan Petrey. The Salukis have also added several transfers, including Andrew Evans, who has been the Friday starter this season. The Kansas State transfer features a fastball that tops out in the mid-90s with multiple wipeout pitches and figures to be a key arm early on. The Salukis are currently first in The Valley with a 4.34 team ERA and an opponent batting average of .235.

For Northwestern, junior outfielder Jackson Freeman leads all Wildcats in batting average (.442), runs (12), hits (19), home runs (3), slugging percentage (.721) and total bases (31). First-year infielder Nick Barron has notched an RBI in six of Northwestern's 10 games this season and has reached base safely in nine of the team's 10 games.

2026 SEASON: UNLV baseball 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. 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.