LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV Hustlin' Rebels return home after a four-game road trip as they will face the Milwaukee Panthers, May 1-3. Games one and two will start at 6:05 pm, while game three will begin at 11:05 am.

Earlier this week, the Scarlet & Gray fell to Utah Tech in St. George, 8-3. With Drew Barragan's two singles against the Trailblazers, the redshirt senior has now reached base in all 43 games he has played in this season and has an on-base streak of 44 games dating back to his time at Western Kentucky last season. Marcos Rosales also tallied a pair of hits Both teams struck out eight times. UNLV used six pitchers, while Utah Tech used eight pitchers.

FOLLOW ALONG: Fans can follow this week's series against the Milwaukee Panthers 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.

PROMOTIONAL ITEMS: UNLV baseball is set to host CCSD Days! Head to Earl E. Wilson Stadium on Friday, May 1, at 6 p.m. as the UNLV baseball team takes on the Milwaukee Panthers. Fans can enjoy $2 beers through the second inning and $5 off ribbon fries, courtesy of Smoken Sam's Concessions. Be one of the first fans through the gates each day and receive a free UNLV bucket hat, while supplies last. Kids in high school and younger (with valid NV ID) will receive free admission. CCSD employees can purchase $1 tickets to both Friday and Saturday's games by clicking or tapping the button below. The deadline to purchase is Friday, May 1, at 11:59 p.m. High school students and younger (with a valid Nevada ID) receive free admission.

LOOKING BACK: UNLV won one out of four games on the road, falling twice to in-state rival UNR and once to Utah Tech. In game one against the Wolf Pack, Jonny Rodriguez paced the Rebels offensively with a 2-for-4 evening with his sixth home run of the season. Nin Burns II, Gunnar Myro and Gavin Taylor also recorded a hit apiece. Starting pitcher Parker Dillhoff fell to 3-3 on the season as the senior lefthander went 5.0 innings giving up 10 hits on eight earned runs with two walks and five strikeouts.

In the 8-7 game two victory, Rodriguez paced the Rebels, once again, with five RBI and hit his seventh home run of the season, including his second straight game with a home run. With his 2-for-5 game Garcia is now on a seven-game hitting streak as the designated hitter also scored two runs. Marcos Rosales belted his team-high ninth home run of the season, while Gavin Taylor collected his fifth home run of the campaign. Myro went 3-for-4 with a trio of singles and started his first game of the season in left field. Yates Bland improved to 5-0 this season as the relief pitcher came in for starting pitcher Carson Lane with one out in the fifth inning, going 4.1 innings himself, recorded five strikeouts, one walk, one earned run and gave up four hits. Ryan Marton collected his second save of the season where he faced one batter, a flyout, to end the game. UNR left 10 runners on base compared to UNLV's seven. UNLV batters struck out 15 times compared to UNR's seven.

In game three where the Wolf Pack won 9-1, Rebel batters went 1-for-12 with runners on base. Rodriguez paced the Rebels on the weekend with six RBI on five hits with a .846 slugging percentage. Garcia's seven-game hitting streak came to an end with a strikeout in the seventh inning as a pinch hitter. Rosales, Cooper Sheff, Jayden Hertel, Reggie Bussey and Myro all collected one hit apiece. Josh Donegan fell to 0-1 on the season as the junior went 4.0 innings giving up four earned runs on six hits with three walks and two strikeouts.

With Drew Barragan's two singles in the 8-3 loss to Utah Tech Drew Barragan has now reached base in all 43 games he has played in this season and has an on-base streak of 44 games dating back to his time at Western Kentucky last season. Rosales also tallied a pair of hits. Both teams struck out eight times. UNLV used six pitchers, while Utah Tech used eight pitchers.

NEWCOMERS MAKE AN IMMEDIATE IMPACT: The UNLV Rebels' 2026 roster features 26 newcomers with 25 transfers and one true freshman; however, three of the transfers will not play this year due to injury, (Drew Charney, Jaylen Jones, 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 160 plate appearances, while seven more have pitched in at least 10 games. Marcos Rosales is the lone Rebel to have appeared in all 44 contests, as he has 43 games starting at second base. Additionally, Drew Barragan, Nin Burns II and Jonny Rodriguez have played in 43 games. Ayden Garcia has seen action in 37 games, while Reggie Bussey has seen time in 28 games as well, starting 27 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: Milwaukee heads into the weekend with a 15-27 overall record and sit second in the Horizon League with a 10-8 ledger. the league standings with a 10-5 record. Milwaukee is coming off three straight losses, most recently against Northwestern (10-8) and Notre Dame (16-2). Against the Wildcats, Charlie Marion homered twice and drove in five runs, and the five RBI and four hits were both Division I career highs for Marion, who also added a run-scoring double between his round trippers as well as a double late in the game. Against the Fighting Irish, Drew Berkland, Mark Quatrani, Jayce Lee, and Mason Barth all had three hits, as Notre Dame collected a season-best 22 hits. Milwaukee ranks 41st in the nation in stolen bases with 90 stolen bases and have been caught 18 times. With 33 stolen bases on the season, Dylan O'Connell has the second most stolen bases in a single season by a Milwaukee player. With four stolen bases against Oakland on April 12, O'Connell tied the Milwaukee program record for steals in a game. He later stole five bases against Northern Kentucky to set a new single-game record. Milwaukee will start right handed pitcher Gavin Theis (2-2, 3.83 ERA) on Friday, right handed pitcher Aric Ehmke (2-5, 6.40 ERA) on Saturday and left handed pitcher Riley Peterson (3-4. 8.66 ERA) on Sunday.

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.