The UNLV baseball team’s opening weekend series against New Mexico State was cancelled due to a positive COVID-19 test within the New Mexico State program.

Next weekend, the Rebels open Mountain West Conference play with a three-game set against UNR. On Saturday, the teams will play a double-header beginning at 11:05 a.m. at Earl E. Wilson Stadium, followed by a game on Sunday at 11:05 a.m.

For the full season schedule, click here.

UNLV was picked to finish tied for third place with the New Mexico Lobos in the 2021 Mountain West Preseason Poll, which was voted on by the Conference’s seven head coaches. Additionally, the coaches tabbed junior catcher Eric Bigani and sophomore second baseman Edarian Williams to the MW’s Preseason Team.
 
San Diego State garnered six first-place votes and accumulated a total of 36 points to finish atop the preseason rankings for the third straight year. The Fresno State Bulldogs claimed the seventh first-place vote and amassed 29 points for second place. UNLV and UNM tied for third with 23 points. UNR (16 points), Air Force (11) and San Jose State (nine) rounded out fifth through seventh, respectively.
 
Bigani was named to the 2020 MW All-Conference Team after starting all 17 games – 15 of which were behind the plate – for the Rebels, following a two-year stint at Cypress College. The native of Anaheim, California, concluded the year ranked in the top 100 of four NCAA statistical categories: 34th in doubles (seven), 35th in hits (26), 83rd in hits per game (1.53) and 86th in doubles per game (0.41). He led the Scarlet & Gray in batting average (.394) and hits, and registered 10 multiple-hit efforts. He was second on the squad in runs (13), doubles, RBI (14), total bases (35) and on-base percentage (.431). Moreover, he was near the top in at-bats (66) and slugging percentage (.530). In the final five games of the shortened 2020 campaign, he hit .526 and bumped his batting average 54 points with a 10-for-19 performance in the batter’s box, and contributed six runs and five RBI.
 
Williams, a local product out of Rancho High, has started 73 contests over his two-year career, and has compiled a .328 batting average with 99 hits, 21 of which have gone for extra bases (16 doubles, four triples and one home run) and help produce a .417 slugging percentage, with 36 RBI and 35 runs scored. In 2020, he started all 17 games at second base, and had 19 hits (three doubles and three triples), scored 14 runs and knocked in 10 RBI. Those three triples in ’20 placed him 10th nationally and 22nd in triples per game (0.19). In his first collegiate campaign, he earned MW Co-Freshman of the Year honors.