PROVO -- UNLV set a record 28 hits Thursday night, handing BYU its worst loss since 1999, defeating the Cougars 19-6.

The 28 hits is a new Mountain West Conference record, bettering the old mark by one. It was the most runs given up by BYU since the Rebels downed them 27-5 in 1999 at Las Vegas.

The Rebels climbed to 25-23 on the year and 10-12 in the MWC, while the Cougars fall to 10-11 overall and 17-25 in league.

Even without MWC Player of the Week David Trujillo, the Rebels found a way to keep their bats hot. After going 9-for-16 last week with five home runs and helping UNLV score 57 runs in four games, Trujillo will sit out this series with a hairline fracture of the hand suffered on Sunday afternoon against New Mexico. Since last week, UNLV has scored 76 runs in five games.

"They are a good team," said BYU Coach Vance Law. "We didn't do what we needed to. We need to try to avoid the big inning."

Garett Shitanishi made up for the loss of Trujillo's bat by tying an MWC record with six hits in six at bats. Shitanishi also had three runs scored and two RBI on the game. The Rebels followed Shitanishi's lead and nearly set a second record of their own. UNLV came within one double of the MWC game record with nine two-baggers on the night.

The game started off on pace to lower everyone's ERA with just one run scored in the first three innings. After loading the bases against sophomore pitcher Jeff Mousser in the top of the first, UNLV was kept to just one run after an assist by center fielder Doug Jackson. With Brent Johnson already across the plate and Eric Nielsen trotting home from second, Jackson caught Derek Amundsen overextended past second base. Jackson threw to Cameron Coughlan just moments before Nielsen could cross the plate, getting the Cougars out of the inning before the second run could score.

Sophomore Cougar Dave Jensen extended his hitting streak to 14 games in the bottom of the first by beating out an infield hit to second base. Junior Matt Carson followed with a shot to center field, but both were stranded on base by UNLV pitcher Robbie Van who allowed just four earned runs on 12 hits in 6.2 innings.

With the score just 1-0 in favor of UNLV going into the third inning, the Rebel bats came back to life. UNLV scored 15 runs on 16 hits in the fourth and fifth innings. UNLV chased Mousser and reliever Jeff Stone from the mound in the fifth inning. Jake Chrisman came in to fight the fire on the Rebels' bats. Chrisman struck out two and walked one in 3.2 innings giving up four runs.

The Cougars, with Ryan Adams scheduled to pitch, next take the field Friday at 7 p.m., in game two against the Rebels. BYU had swept the Rebels at Las Vegas in the first three games this season.

UNLV at Brigham Young Univ.
                May 02, 2002 at Provo, UT (Larry H.Miller Field)
UNLV 19 (25-23,10-12 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
RUIZ, Ryan ss............  6  0  3  2   1  1  2  3   0
JOHNSON, Brent cf........  6  3  4  2   0  0  3  0   3
WICKMAN, Joe lf..........  5  2  3  1   0  0  1  0   0
 REUSS, Jason rf.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
NIELSEN, Eric rf/lf......  2  2  1  1   2  1  2  0   0
AMUNDSEN, Derek dh.......  6  2  3  3   0  2  0  0   1
SHITANISHI, Garett 2b....  6  3  6  2   0  0  0  7   0
SCHULER, Tony 3b.........  6  1  3  2   0  1  0  0   2
VANKIRK, Robert c........  5  4  3  3   1  1  4  0   0
 NEPA, James c...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  2  0   0
GOLDBERG, Steve 1b.......  5  2  2  1   1  1 13  0   0
VAN, Robbie p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  4   0
 WATTS, Donnie p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 GANN, Jake p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 47 19 28 17   5  7 27 14  10
Brigham Young Univ. 6 (17-25-1,10-11 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
JACKSON, Doug cf.........  5  1  1  0   0  0  1  3   0
COUGHLAN, Cameron 2b.....  5  1  1  1   0  1  4  2   1
JENSEN, Dave 1b..........  5  1  2  2   0  1  7  2   1
CARSON, Matt rf..........  3  1  1  1   1  1  2  1   0
ITRI, Rob 3b.............  5  0  1  0   0  2  0  0   2
WIENS, Ranger ss.........  5  0  2  1   0  1  3  3   0
STUBBLEFIELD, Jake dh....  4  1  2  0   0  0  0  0   0
BIRKELAND, Lars c........  3  0  1  0   1  0  5  1   4
 WILKES, Adam c..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  4  0   0
YI, Han lf...............  3  1  1  1   1  0  0  2   1
MOUSSER, Jeff p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 STONE, Jeff p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 CHRISMAN, Jacob p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  1   0
 WARD, Matt p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 38  6 12  6   3  6 27 16   9
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
UNLV................ 100 690 102 - 19 28  2
Brigham Young Univ.. 000 041 100 -  6 12  2
-------------------------------------------
E - NIELSEN; SHITANISHI; JACKSON; BIRKELAND. LOB - Rebels 10; BYU Cougars 9.
2B - JOHNSON 3; WICKMAN, Jo 2; AMUNDSEN 2; VANKIRK 2; JENSEN; YI. 3B - RUIZ.
HR - VANKIRK(3). HBP - JOHNSON; WICKMAN, Jo; NIELSEN 2. SF - CARSON M.. SB -
SHITANISHI.
UNLV                   IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
VAN, Robbie.........  6.2 12  6  4  2  3 31 34
WATTS, Donnie.......  1.1  0  0  0  1  1  4  5
GANN, Jake..........  1.0  0  0  0  0  2  3  3
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
MOUSSER, Jeff.......  4.0 13  7  6  2  3 22 25
STONE, Jeff.........  0.1  5  6  6  1  0  5  7
CHRISMAN, Jacob.....  3.2  7  4  4  1  2 15 18
WARD, Matt..........  1.0  3  2  2  1  2  5  6
Win - VAN (5-5).  Loss - MOUSSER (7-4).  Save - None.
WP - VAN; MOUSSER; CHRISMAN. HBP - by MOUSSER (NIELSEN); by STONE (WICKMAN, Jo);
by CHRISMAN (NIELSEN); by CHRISMAN (JOHNSON). BK - VAN 2.
Umpires - HP: Jeff Jenkins  1B: Bill Boyd  3B: Terry Balser
Start: 7:00   Time: 3:21   Attendance: 913
Game notes: Game 1 of 3...Garett Shitanishi ties MWC record with six hits and UNLV sets new MWC record with 28 hits, old 27 by SDSU vs. UNM, 2000

Seeding in the Mountain West Conference Baseball Tournament is key, so that is why this week's three-game series between BYU and UNLV in Provo takes on added importance.

The Cougars, now 17-24-1 overall and 10-10 in the MWC, are five-and one-half games out of first place, but dropped from their second-place standing. UNLV, 24-23 and 9-12, joined Utah as the only teams who played above the .500 level last week.

"Every team is pretty good in our league this year, so no one is a shoe-in to win all three games of a series," said BYU Coach Vance Law. UNLV won its last two games at New Mexico last weekend, while BYU split with the Air Force Academy in the rain-shortened series in Provo.

Jeff Mousser (7-3, 4.20) is scheduled to start on the mound for BYU in Thursday's game which begins at 7 p.m. For the second week in a row, no Cougar starter has been announced for Friday's game also at 7 p.m. Paul Jacinto (2-2 ,6.42) is the probable pitcher for Saturday's game at 1 p.m.

Jacinto didn't get to start last Saturday because the game with the AFA was canceled. Had that game been played, Cameron Coughlan was scheduled to return to defensive action at second base. Coughlan has only been able to play as a designated hitter the past three weekends because of an elbow injury.

With Coughlan back in the lineup, Law has a little more flexibility in his batting order, especially if Ryan Chambers is able to return by the end of the week to the outfield. Chambers has been sidelined with a hamstring injury.

"We are going to try and use the next three weeks to build and gain confidence towards our conference tournament," said Law, realizing the MWC Tournament automatic berth is the only remaining path to qualify for NCAA post-season play. BYU hosts the six-team MWC league tournament On May 22-25, but no one is likely to surpass San Diego State as the number one seed.

Dave Jensen continues to lead the Cougars with his .382 batting average and 13-game hitting streak.

In addition to the Cougar-Rebel series being broadcast live locally over KOVO Radio (960 AM), long-distance fans can listen live on the Internet to UNLV's audiocast on Friday and Saturday at http://unlvrebels.fansonly.com/sports/m-basebl/unlv-m-basebl-sched.html. Fans can also read the live webcast of all of this week's games at Game One, Game Two and Game Three.

Individual baseball game prices at Miller Park are $5 for public and $3 for students, faculty, staff and senior citizens. Season reserved seats can be obtained with a Cougar Card for $30. Otherwise, reserved seats for the season are $30 for students or $60 for public. For groups of 15 or more, there is a special rate of $2 per person. For reserved tickets, phone 801 378-BYU1. All-sport and Cougar Cards must be shown at the ticket office on the game day and redeemed for a reserved seat, based on availability. Tickets are on sale at the ticket office on the north side of Miller Park.

Additionally, some ticket packages are now on sale for the MWC Tournament by phoning 1-800-322-BYU1.