REBELS OPEN MW TOURNEY AGAINST AZTECS
The Hustlin’ Rebels (31-22, 16-14 MW) punch its ticket to the Credit Union 1 Mountain West Championship last week with a sweep of Air Force and will face fifth-seeded San Diego State on Wednesday, May 21 at 6:05 p.m at Sloan Park in Mesa, Ariz. Fourth-seeded UNLV earned its first trip to the Mountain West Championship since 2022 and 21st overall tournament berth. The 2025 Mountain West Baseball tournament will be held May 21-24. UNLV and San Diego State will play in the night cap of the single elimination game with the winner moving onto the double elimination format where they will face UNR on Thursday.
MOUNTAIN WEST CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Wednesday, May 21
1:05 pm | Game 1: #3 New Mexico vs. #6 San Jose State
6:05 pm | Game 2: #4 UNLV vs. #5 San Diego State
Thursday, May 22
1:05 pm | Game 3: No. 1 UNR vs. Winner Game 2
6:05 pm | Game 4: No. 2 Fresno State vs. Winner Game 1
Friday, May 23
11:05 am | Game 5: Game 3 Loser vs. Game 4 Loser
3:05 pm | Game 6: Game 3 Winner vs Game 4 Winner
7:05 pm | Game 7: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Loser
Saturday, May 24
12:05 pm | Game 7: Game 6 Winner vs. Game 7 Winner
3:05 pm | Game 7: Game 8 Winner vs. Game 8 Loser (if necessary)
MATCHUP HISTORY
Overall vs. San Diego State: 79-103
Current streak against San Diego State: W3
Last Meeting: The Hustlin’ Rebels swept the Aztecs at home April 25-27 and scored double-digit runs in two of the three games. SDSU swept UNLV in San Diego March 28-30.
FOLLOW ALONG: Fans can follow this week’s Mountain West Championship free of charge through live stats as well as live video streaming via the Mountain West Network (MWN) or TheMW.com, the MW’s mobile app and Stadium’s mobile app.
Links for stats and video will also be made available on the program’s schedule page at UNLVRebels.com. Additionally, fans can follow in-game updates through the program’s official Twitter account, @UNLVBaseball.
TOURNAMENT BRIEFS: UNR won its fourth Mountain West regular-season title and first since 2021. With a 19-11 record in MW play, the Wolf Pack earned the No. 1 seed. UNR is making its ninth postseason tournament appearance and first since 2022.
Fresno State enters the MW championship as the No. 2 seed after finishing league action with an 18-12 mark. The defending MW tournament champions are making their ninth MW championship appearance and third in a row.
UNR and Fresno State each receive a first round bye and will play on Thursday the winners of game two and game one, respectively.
With a 17-13 record in MW play, New Mexico is the No. 3 and are making their 20th MW postseason appearance in program history. UNM has a 30-32 record at the MW championship.
San Diego State wrapped up the regular season with a 14-16 record and earned the No. 5 seed. The Aztecs are making their first MW postseason appearance since 2022 and 22nd overall since the tournament started in 2000.
With a 13-17 record in MW action, San José State earned the final berth to the MW championship and is the No. 6 seed. The Spartans are making their fourth straight MW tournament appearance and eighth overall in program history.
THIS SEASON: The Hustlin’ Rebels have been able to produce a pair of batters with a batting average of .350 or higher; Dean Toigo (.384) and Cole Koniarsky (.363) represent the highest averages. The duo represents several of the top 15 spots in the Mountain West leaderboard for those marks, ranking third and seventh, respectively, in batting average.
UNLV holds several other top marks within the conference, Toigo ranking first in the Mountain West in hits (83) and RBI (74). Toigo also sits tied for ninth in the nation in RBI and tied for 21st in hits. Additionally, Toigo is first in the MW in home runs (18) and ranks second in total bases (150). Cole Koniarsky is tied for fourth in conference only games with 13 doubles and fifth in on-base percentage (.468).
Sophomore starter Carson Lane leads the Rebels with 85 strikeouts, currently third in the Mountain West and sits first with a .229 opponent batting average and second in the MW with a 4.10 ERA. Fellow sophomore hurler LJ Mercurius leads the conference with a 3.57 ERA.
UNLV currently leads the conference in ERA (5.10) and opponent batting average (.261), second in walks (228) and on-base percentage (.383), tied for second in sacrifice flies (30), third in batters struck out (428), ranks fourth in batting average (.295), home runs (55), total bases (810), slugging percentage (.449), hits (532) and fifth in runs scored (353), RBI (314).
Dean Toigo is 17th in Division I with 1.40 RBI per game, tied for 24th in the nation with 1.57 hits per game, tied for 26th with 150 total bases and ranks 40th with a .384 batting average.
The Hustlin’ Rebels have collected six Mountain West weekly honors so far this season, Sheff owning three Freshman honors, while Toigo collected his first Player of the Week nod on April 28. Additionally, Lane and Mercurius have picked up their first Pitcher awards within two weeks apart.
NEW FOR 2025: The Rebels feature 23 newcomers wearing the Scarlet & Gray heading into the new season, three of those student-athletes being marked as true freshmen on the roster and 20 transferring to Las Vegas.
Of those 20 transfers, the Scarlet & Gray have two pairs of student-athletes to the roster arriving from the same institution, including Nicky Garritano and Michael Cruz from CSN. The duo helped lead the Coyotes to become one of the premiere JUCO programs, Garritano earning the 2024 NJCAA DI Baseball Defensive Player of the Year honor. Also being a two-time NJCAA DI Baseball ABCA & Rawlings Gold Glove recipient, both he and Cruz hold multiple All-Region selections in Region 18.
A few of UNLV’s fresh faces earned some time on the diamond during the Rebels’ scrimmage, the team having plenty of options to utilize throughout the season. Senior outfielder Dean Toigo led Hope International to their first-ever win in the Avista NAIA World Series as Toigo drove in two runs during the contest. Dwight Allen II was part of the 2022 Georgia squad that advanced to the NCAA Regional after appearing in 42 games that season and Colton Sundloff owns postseason experience from his time at Oklahoma pitching in the NCAA Super Regional.
UNLV was voted tied for fourth in the Mountain West Preseason Poll prior to the start of the season, tied with New Mexico and San Diego State. The Rebels earned a first-place team vote during the poll, Paul Myro IV claiming All-Mountain West Preseason Team honors.