The No. 8 ASU baseball team is looking for its fourth mid-week victory in its past five attempts on Wednesday night as the Sun Devils (24-12-1) face off against UNLV at Packard Stadium.
The Sun Devils have already knocked off the Rebels (27-12) this season, blowing them out 11-3 two Wednesdays ago courtesy of an eight-run second inning.
Junior second baseman James McDonald had an RBI in that game and said the Rebels will be out to avenge the loss, but that the Sun Devils will be ready for the challenge.
"They are a good team, and we have to take them seriously like every team we play," McDonald said. "The main focus is to take care of what we need to do to play well and win the game."
The Rebels have played well since the Sun Devil loss, winning five of their past seven games.
They also boast the Mountain West Conference Player of the Week in sophomore catcher Erik VanMeetren.
VanMeetren went 6-12 last weekend in a sweep of San Diego State and scored six runs while driving in seven.
McDonald knows VanMeetren and the Rebels, which hit .301 as a team, will be difficult to stop, especially in a mid-week game.
"We have to treat this like any weekend series game," McDonald said. "We have to go out and play really hard and stay focus."
The Sun Devils will send redshirt junior Zak Miller to the mound.
Miller started against the Rebels the first time around and pitched five innings and allowed only three runs, good enough for his second victory of the season.
No starter has been named yet for the Rebels, but it's safe to say it won't be freshman Bryan Bonnell, who allowed seven hits and seven runs to the Sun Devils in 1.1 innings in their first meeting.
Reach the reporter at dsshapi1@asu.edu
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