UNLV pitcher’s attorney says legal options being reviewed

Thursday, April 1, 1999 | 10:21 a.m.

SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

UNLV baseball pitcher Mike Lopez, who has accused Rebels coach Rod Soesbe of grabbing him around the neck during an early-morning incident outside of Soesbe's College Station, Texas, motel room last week, has retained an attorney.

"At this point, all I would say is we are reviewing his options," said Las Vegas attorney Douglas S. Clark, when asked if Lopez planned to pursue legal action against Soesbe and the university.

Clark said Lopez was concerned with "misinformation" contained in news reports recounting UNLV's side of the story.

"This is devastating to Mike," Clark said, adding that UNLV's account of the incident was "unacceptable."

The incident developed March 23 when the Rebels were participating in a tournament at Texas A&M and Lopez and fellow pitcher Billy Barker arrived back at the team motel at roughly 3 a.m. Soesbe usually has a curfew but lifted it that night.

Soesbe said he briefly grabbed Lopez around the collar, to determine whether the player had been drinking. Soesbe said it appeared Lopez had not been drinking.

Lopez told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that Soesbe grabbed his neck, not his collar.

"He called my name, and I backtracked a little bit to where he was standing, and he immediately put his hands around my neck and started verbally reprimanding me for coming in a 3 o'clock in the morning," Lopez said.

Barker, the only player who witnessed the incident, concurred. But Soesbe told the Sun Barker was 100 feet away from where he and Lopez were standing.

"Maybe that's the way it looked to him," said Soesbe, who insisted he only put one hand on Lopez's collar.

"I just wish this would pass and we could go on," Soesbe said, adding that this is the first incident of this type he has been involved in during 30 years of coaching.

UNLV associate athletic director Jerry Koloskie conducted an investigation into the incident, after which Soesbe was suspended for one week. He'll resume his coaching duties on Monday when the Rebels return from a Hawaii road trip.

Lopez, a little-used senior from Diamond Bar, Calif., had an 0-1 record in 10 1/3 innings this season with an earned-run average of 15.68