LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – UNLV baseball head coach Tim Chambers released his 2015 schedule on Monday and a total of 30 regular-season games will be played at Earl E. Wilson Stadium, which is six more than last season, while the Rebels will be on the road for 25 games.
Matchups with nationally prominent teams from the Big 10, Big 12 and Pac-12 conferences and historically strong teams from the Big West Conference, West Coast Conference and Western Athletic Conference will highlight Chambers’ fifth season at the school.
“In 2014 we played a very tough non-conference schedule and were rewarded by earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament,” Chambers said. “So we are using that idea again this year to play some teams that are consistently ranked in the top 25. We also promised our recruits that they would have an opportunity to play at some great ballparks and play some tough teams.”
The regular season will open at home on February 13 with a three-game series against Nebraska. The Huskers’ trip to Las Vegas returns a series after UNLV traveled to Lincoln, Neb., in 2014.
The Rebels’ first midweek game of the year will be a contest at Western Athletic Conference member Grand Canyon on February 17. It will be the first time since 1998 that the two schools have faced each other.
A four-game series with Pacific at Wilson Stadium follows on February 20-23. It will be the first time since 1995 that UNLV and the Tigers have met in Las Vegas.
On February 27 through March 1, the Rebels will open Mountain West Conference play at Fresno State. UNLV will stay on the road for two midweek games at Oklahoma State, which marks its first trip to Stillwater, Okla., since 2009.
UNLV will then return home and play a three-game series against instate rival Nevada, Reno on March 6-8. It will be baseball’s first installment of 2015 as part of the Governor’s Series presented NV Energy and sponsored by Barrick Gold. The two teams will also meet in Reno on April 2-4.
March 11 marks the start of a road trip where the Rebels will travel to face Arizona State and then at Air Force on March 13-15.
UNLV will then return home to play four games against Northwestern on March 21-23, with the Rebels’ only scheduled doubleheader of the season slated for March 22.
Mountain West play will resume for UNLV on March 27-29 as the Rebels host San Diego State before playing a midweek game at Long Beach State on March 31.
After UNLV’s trip to northern Nevada, the Rebels will play a midweek game in Las Vegas against ASU and will then travel for their first-ever meeting with Ohio State on April 10-12.
On April 14, UNLV will travel to Loyola Marymount for a midweek game and will return home to host New Mexico on April 17-19. The Rebels will head back to California for midweek game against UC Riverside on April 21.
UNLV’s second meeting of the year with Air Force will take place on April 24-26 and the Rebels will close out the month of April with a midweek game at home against UC Riverside on April 28.
A three-game set at conference foe San Diego State will open the month of May for UNLV. The Rebels will then return home and play their last non-conference game of the year against Long Beach State on May 5.
UNLV will close its 2015 home schedule with a three-game series against Fresno State on May 8-10 and will finish its regular-season schedule at San Jose State May 14-16.
The postseason will begin with the Mountain West Tournament on May 20-24 in Reno. If the Rebels win the tournament or earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, the Regionals will be played May 29-31 and Super Regionals will follow June 5-7. The College World Series will be played June 12-22 in Omaha, Neb., at TD Ameritrade Park.
During the fall season, UNLV will play an exhibition game against Utah on October 18. Admission to the contest will be free.
The Rebels are coming off of their most successful season under Chambers, in which they won a share of the regular-season title and made their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2005.
