Rebels to meet Aztecs in tourney

Victoria Sun

Tuesday, May 15, 2001 | 10:11 a.m.

The UNLV baseball team lost five of six regular-season meetings to San Diego State.

So you'd think the last team the Rebels would want to face in the first round of the Mountain West Conference Baseball Tournament is the Aztecs, right?

Wrong.

"We're going in with a positive attitude," UNLV coach Rod Soesbe said. "I reminded the guys, last year, we beat them five out of six and they came back to beat us in the opening round of the tournament.

"So we have a chance to turn it around. This is just the opposite of what it was last year."

The Rebels will play San Diego State Wednesday night at 7 at Tony Gwynn Stadium in San Diego in the first round of the double-elimination tournament that concludes on Saturday.

UNLV catcher Brad Beasley, the only fifth-year senior on the team, remembered what happened to the Rebels and hopes the team can return the favor.

"I think we got out to an early lead and were up four runs going into bottom of the ninth," Beasley, who is batting .263 with 25 runs and 28 RBIs, said. "At that point we thought we had this game won.

"I think we looked past them the last inning. They got us."

Getting past second-seeded San Diego State (31-24) will be difficult, but not impossible for fifth seed UNLV (22-31).

Ryan Olson, 3-4 with a 5.75 ERA, is scheduled to start against Aztecs left-hander Marcos Mendoza (7-4, 4.01).

"I think one of the things we've got to focus on is our defense; playing solid," Beasley said. "In San Diego, the ball's not going to fly out of the park.

"It's important we execute and get timely hitting when we need it. The game could come down to one run."

UNLV ranked last in the conference in team batting at .290, but has enough firepower to compete.

First baseman David Trujillo extended his conference-leading hitting streak to 28 games in the team's 4-2 loss at BYU Saturday that ended the regular season. He is hitting .377, second in the conference, with 40 RBIs and seven home runs. Trent Kitsch ranks second in RBIs with 62 and third in the conference with 15 home runs while Garett Shitanishi is batting .355 with 38 runs, and Brent Johnson is hitting .324 with 19 doubles and 15 steals.

"What I hope will happen is we'll go out and win it," Soesbe said. "We just haven't been consistent all year and sometimes that happens with younger players."

The Rebels will still be without closer Jake Gann and are uncertain about the status of starter Giovanni Pupo, who has missed most of the season with tendinitis.