Friday, April 12, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
There are 55 games on UNLV's baseball schedule this year. Today, 52 of those are irrelevant.
UNLV opens its three-game series at UC Santa Barbara today at 2:30 p.m. According to head coach Fred Dallimore, it is the most important series of the season, especially if the Rebels want to qualify for the NCAA regional tournament.
"This is the most crucial series we'll play," Dallimore said. "They're on a seven-game winning streak and they play well at home.
"We just gotta take care of business. We gotta play our butts off."
The Rebels and Gauchos are in a three-way tie with Long Beach State for second place in the Best West Conference standings at 6-3. UNLV, however, swept Long Beach State last weekend. Long Beach swept UCSB last month.
Also, all of UNLV's conference losses came against Cal State Fullerton. UCSB plays Fullerton, the Big West leader at 7-2 and the nation's No. 1-ranked team, May 3-5.
"We have to win at least two out of three, but we need to take all three," Rebel third baseman Ryan Hankins said. "We have to sweep these games. We're in the middle of our conference schedule right now and it's pretty big, especially when we're tied with them."
In addition to the Big West standings, UNLV is also striving to impress the regional tournament selection committee. Two sure-fire ways to do so are to climb the polls and attain the magical 40-victory plateau.
As well as keeping UNLV within striking distance of Fullerton, a series victory would most likely knock UCSB out of Baseball America's college poll. The Rebels are at No. 25, just one spot behind the Gauchos. The Rebels are also ranked No. 21 by USA Today, a poll the Gauchos didn't make.
"If we win some games (against Santa Barbara), that should put us in all three or four polls," Rebel outfielder Scott Vincent said. "For the at-large bids, polls are a big deal. If you're in the top 25, you got a real good chance of going to the postseason."
In its quest for 40 victories, the Rebels (32-11) are just eight away with 12 games to play.
"I was thinking we would need around 38, 39 wins," Vincent said. "But the way we're playing, we should get to 40.
"We have a good team. This is the best team I've played on. I'd be real disappointed if we didn't make it."
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