FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
LAS VEGAS – The UNLV baseball team will conclude its fall slate with the annual Fall World Series, a three-game series which will get underway Friday night at Earl E. Wilson Stadium with Team Black battling Team Scarlet for the title. Admission is free to all the games.
Team Black earned home-field advantage following a strong performance in the head-to-head scrimmages over the previous three weeks, and that squad will be coached by Jeff Prieto. Team Scarlet, which will be the home team in game two of the three-game series, will be coached by Bob Fenn.
Game one is slated to get underway at 7:00 p.m. (PT) on Friday night at Wilson Stadium, with game two on Saturday at 7:00 and an if-necessary game on Sunday, which will start at 12:00 p.m. Tanner Peters will get the start on Friday night for Scarlet, while Andrew Beresford will take to the mound for Team Black. Admission is free to all the games.
"All the scrimmages have been very close between the two teams this fall and I am looking forward to what should be a great series," UNLV head coach Buddy Gouldsmith said. "We chose the best-of-three because that more closely simulates our season series."
Team Black is being led at the plate by newcomer Richie Jimenez, who is hitting .439 this fall with five doubles, a home run and 13 RBI, while also scoring 10 runs and drawing four walks. Rance Round has drilled a team-high 13 home runs and driven in 13, to go along with three doubles. On the mound Andrew Beresford has made four starts and has a 3.94 ERA in 16 innings of work, striking out 12 and walking five. Jarred Lee has been strong coming out of the bullpen, making seven appearances and giving up three earned runs to go with eight strikeouts in 10.1 innings of work for a team-low 2.61 ERA.
"The black squad is looking forward to a competitive fall world series," Prieto said. "It’s been a great battle between these two teams all fall. The black squad showed a ton of fight by coming back to win home field advantage after having its back to wall for the better part of the last two weeks. Andy Beresford is going to get the ball for us in game one and anytime you get Beresford and Peters on the mound against each other it is always very competitive."
Hunter Beaty has been one of the top producers at the plate for Team Scarlet, collecting 17 hits while Brandon Bayardi’s seven doubles is tops among both squads. Peters has been the top pitcher all fall for Scarlet, posting a 2.12 ERA in four starts and six total appearances, striking out 22 and walking just four. Stephen Singer has been just as stellar, compiling a 2.00 ERA in 18 innings of work, striking out 11 batters while not issuing a single walk.
"I’m looking forward to what should be a very competitive series, as both the Scarlet and Black teams showed some real competitive spirit all throughout the fall," Fenn said. "It should be an exciting series for all of the marbles, and I think we have a chance to put some crooked numbers up throughout the series. A real key for us will be to play catch game in and game out to allow our starting pitchers to stay in rhythm."
When looking at the scrimmage statistics, the two teams are pretty evenly matched. Team Scarlet is hitting .329 as a team, has scored 120 runs and has hit 10 home runs, while Team Black is hitting .317, has scored 118 runs and drilled seven home runs. On the mound is where Team Scarlet has a slight edge, with a 6.55 team ERA with 62 strikeouts and 41 walks compared to Team Black’s ERA of 7.30 to go with 55 strikeouts and 40 walks.
