LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV Hustlin' Rebels face the Washington State Cougars for the second and final time in Mountain West Play Friday, April 17 through Sunday, April 19 at Earl E. Wilson Stadium.

Historically speaking, UNLV and Washington State have squared off a total of 27 times dating back to 1976. The Hustlin' Rebels lead the all-time series 14-13, with the last seven games having both teams alternate wins.

FOLLOW ALONG: Fans can follow this week's series against the Washington State Cougars 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: This will be the first time the Hustlin' Rebels and Cougars will face each other in Las Vegas since the 2021 season as WSU took two out of three games in the series. Additionally, this will be the second and final season both squads will meet up in Mountain West play as WSU will return to the Pac-12 for the 2027 season.

LOOKING BACK: UNLV won two out of three games at Grand Canyon and recorded a midweek road victory against Utah Tech. Most recently on Tuesday against the Trailblazers, Drew Barragan reached base in all 36 games he has played in this season with a 2-for-4 effort, while Nin Burns II went 2-for-4 with two RBI and one walk. Jack Salmon recorded a 3-for-4 night with three singles, one RBI and a stolen base. Marcos Rosales and Drew Barragan also registered two hits in the contest. Starter Yates Bland collected his fourth win of the season after going 3.0 innings giving up three hits, one strikeouts, no walks and no runs. Colton Sundloff struck out a season-high four batters in 2.2 innings of work. Ryan Marton earned his first save of the season.

In a 13-8 win in game one of the series against GCU, Jayden Hertel led the way with a 3-for-4 night with his second home run of the season, two singles and four RBI. Marton collected the win in relief as the right-hander went 2.0 innings where he allowed two hits, one run (no earned runs) with two walks and three strikeouts. Jonny Rodriguez was hit by a pitch twice and is tied for the team lead with 11 hit by pitches.

In the game two loss, Carson Lane collected a season-high eight strikeouts as the junior went 4.0 innings giving up five hits on one earned run with three walks. Five Rebel relief pitchers appeared in the game in LJ Manning, Colton Sundloff, Cody Albright, Jacob Gomberg and Gavyn Bowen.

In the 14-8 game three triumph, Salmon drove home a season-high four runs in a 3-for-5 afternoon. Reese Lueck notched his second win of the season going 2.1 innings where he surrendered seven hits, three earned runs and one walk. Jase Evangelista collected his second save of the season after throwing 3.0 innings where he gave up three earned runs on five hits with two walks and two strikeouts.

NEWCOMERS MAKE AN IMMEDIATE IMPACT: The UNLV Rebels' 2026 roster features 26 newcomers with 25 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, three of those first-year Rebels (Barragan, Rosales, Rodriguez) have a minimum of 130 plate appearances, while seven more have pitched in at least eight games. Marcos Rosales is the lone Rebel to have appeared in all 37 contests, as he has 36 games starting at second base. Additionally, Drew Barragan, Nin Burns II and Jonny Rodriguez have played in 36 games. Ayden Garcia has seen action in 31 games, while Reggie Bussey has seen time in 22 games as well, starting 21 games in center field. On the mound, the Scarlet & Gray has gotten starts from five newcomers - Parker Dillhoff, Felix Ong, Yates Bland, Ryan Marton and Josh Donegan.

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 26 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 OPPONENT: Washington State has won three of its last four weekend series (Grand Canyon, at San Jose State, Gardner-Webb) and has won seven of its last nine games after going 5-1 at home the last nine days. The Cougars split a two-game set with seventh-ranked Oregon State in Pullman early last week before sweeping a three-game nonconference series against Gardner-Webb and taking the Monday matchup against Portland. WSU enters Wednesday with an 19-18 overall record including a 7-5. Most recently, the Cougars fell to Utah Tech 18-8 as Cougars had their five-game winning streak snapped.

Max Hartman entered Wednesday tied for national lead in triples but his six triples are also tied for fifth-most in WSU single-season history. Gavin Roy leads WSU in batting average (.374), hits (49), tied for first in doubles (10), and has 17 walks along with 23 RBI. Ryan Skjonsby ranks first on the team in RBI (30), while Hartman leads the squad with 12 stolen bases on 13 attempts.

On the mound, the Rebels will see left-handed pitcher Nick Lewis on Friday, right-handed pitcher Griffin Smith on Saturday and right-handed pitcher Luke Meyers on Sunday. Lewis is 4-2 with a 4.44 ERA in 52.2 innings pitched with 19 walks and 29 strikeouts. Smith carries a 5.80 ERA with nine starts on 12 walks and 25 punchouts in 49.2 innings pitched. Meyers is 2-4 with a 5.40 ERA as he has a team-high 33 strikeouts in 45 innings of work.

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.