Wednesday, May 19, 2004 | 10:13 a.m.
By beating New Mexico twice in a three-games series in Albuquerque this week, UNLV would become the first team in Mountain West Conference history to win back-to-back regular-season championships. The past pacesetters:
By beating New Mexico twice in a three-game series in Albuquerque this weekend, the UNLV baseball team will win the Mountain West Conference regular-season title.
For the second consecutive year, the Rebels will have proved they are the best team in the league over a rugged three-month, 30-game schedule. A team that, many would argue, deserves to represent the conference in the upcoming NCAA tournament.
But the way the Mountain West is structured, those 30 games won't mean a whole lot next week, when just three or four games will decide who advances to the regional.
Unlike in many conferences, which use the regular season to determine their automatic NCAA qualifier, the regular season serves only to set the pairings for the postseason tournament in the Mountain West, with the winner of the conference tournament going on to the NCAAs.
"There's been a lot of talk about that, but nothing has been approved," UNLV coach Buddy Gouldsmith said, about proposed changes that could rectify an injustice.
For instance, should Air Force, 5-41 and mired in a 27-game losing streak, somehow catch lightning in a bottle at Wilson Stadium next week, it would represent the Mountain West in the NCAA tournament while the conference's best team most likely would stay home.
While the Rebels (32-20, 19-8) would have an outside shot of sneaking into the NCAA tournament as an at-large team, their resume and/or reputation probably isn't quite strong enough to get in.
Gouldsmith said 40 victories, 20 or fewer losses and playing well down the stretch are usually a ticket to the postseason. Teams with a pedigree usually don't have to do quite as much.
"There's no question that tradition does enter into it," Gouldsmith said. "Arizona State hasn't played very well in their (conference), but they're still gonna get in. And I don't think Cal State Fullerton is worried about getting in."
But at least the Rebels still control their destiny. And they will control it on their home diamond, so as Gouldsmith said, there will be no excuses if they don't make it to the postseason for the second consecutive season.
"If we're the best team in this league, then we should win the tournament," he said.
By winning the series at second-place New Mexico, the Rebels' path to the NCAA would get a little shorter, as the first- and second-place teams in the regular-season standings will receive first-round byes in the MWC tournament.
Gouldsmith likes UNLV's chances in the Duke City, despite the fact New Mexico won the teams' series at Wilson Stadium in late April. After the Rebels won the opener 5-4, the Lobos bounced back with 11-4 and 12-4 victories.
But as Gouldsmith noted, UNLV was without four injured regulars, including cleanup hitter Brent Johnson, in those three games. The Rebels should be at full strength for the rematch.
"Hopefully, that will play on the minds of the Lobos," Gouldsmith said.
The Rebels will go with their usual three-man rotation. David Seccombe (8-2, 5.10 ERA) will start Thursday night's game with Jake Vose (9-3, 4.48) slated to work Friday night and Matt Luca (6-5, 6.68) getting the nod on Saturday afternoon.
If those three do their job, the rest should take care of itself. The Rebels will begin the series ranked second in the NCAA in run production with 9.9 per game.
In addition to the Rebels and Lobos, San Diego State (30-27, 16-9) still has an outside shot of winning the regular-season crown. For that to happen, Tony Gwynn's Aztecs would have to sweep Utah in Salt Lake City this weekend and have New Mexico beat UNLV twice.
If the Lobos win two of three against the Rebels and San Diego State loses once, then UNLV and New Mexico would share the title.
Nielsen, who was also named the Mountain West Conference's Player of the Week on Monday, helped the Rebels take three of four games from Utah to stay in first place in the Mountain West. He hit .529 for the week with pitcher five homers and 15 RBI.
He had two two-homer games against the Utes, including on Sunday, when he hit two three-run shots. For the year, Nielsen has started all 52 games and leads the conference in hits (87), runs (69), RBIs (76), homers (14) and batting average (.405).
Tuesday's results
Arizona State 22, New Mexico 4
Thursday's games
Air Force at BYU (DH), 3 p.m.
UNLV at New Mexico, 11 a.m.
San Diego State at Utah, 3 p.m.
Friday's games
Air Force at BYU (DH), 3 p.m.
UNLV at New Mexico, 11 a.m.
San Diego State at Utah, 5 p.m.
Saturday's games
Air Force at BYU (DH), 10 a.m.
UNLV at New Mexico, 11 a.m.
San Diego State at Utah, 11 a.m.
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