Rebels in key series at San Jose

Thursday, April 16, 1998 | 9:05 a.m.

The UNLV baseball team will attempt to solidify its hold on the sixth and final berth in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament when it travels to San Jose State for a three-game series beginning Friday. The Rebels (27-15 overall, 10-8 in the WAC) enter the series with the sixth-best winning percentage in the conference. San Jose State (22-16, 8-9) is seventh and is also attempting to qualify for the postseason tournament. UNLV won two of three games last weekend from Air Force while San Jose lost two of three at Utah. The Spartans posted a 5-2 nonconference win over Santa Clara on Tuesday. The Rebels are led offensively by sophomores first baseman Tony DeMarco, who is hitting .410 with five home runs and 36 RBIs, sophomore outfielder Ryan Ludwick (.372, 10, 46) and junior third baseman Kevin Eberwein (.371, 9 homers, 39 RBIs). Senior right-hander Jerimiah Tipton (5-0, 5.06 earned-run average) is the lone healthy starting pitcher heading into the series at San Jose, but head coach Rod Soesbe is hopeful that junior right-hander Mike Zipser (sore ribs) will rejoin the rotation this weekend after missing his last start. Zipser is 5-4 with a 4.43 ERA.

In other UNLV news:

Sophomore Jeremy Anderson was named the Western Athletic Conference's Golfer of the Week after he led the No. 1-ranked Rebels to their record-extending sixth title of the season at the Bell South Yellow Pages Intercollegiate last weekend in Cary, N.C. UNLV's next action will be April 27-29 in the WAC Championship at Poppy Ridge Golf Course in Livermore, Calif.