April 25, 1999

LAS VEGAS - The UNLV baseball team swept a WAC three-game series against TCU on Friday-Sunday, April 23-25, at Earl E. Wilson Stadium at Roger Barnson Field. UNLV improves to 24-25 overall and 13-8 (third place) in the WAC and TCU is 26-20 overall and 17-6 in the WAC. UNLV is three games behind TCU for second place with nine WAC games remaining.

UNLV defeated TCU 9-6 in the opening game on Friday night. Junior right-hander Andy McCulloch, 4-5, pitched 6 strong innings to record the victory. He allowed 3 hits, 4 runs (3 earned), struck out 3 and walked 5. TCU took a 4-2 lead on a grand slam by third baseman Royce Huffman in the third inning. UNLV then took the lead for good with three runs in the fifth, to break a 4-4 tie. Senior left fielder Chris Adolph was 2-for-5 with 2 RBI; junior outfielder Ryan Ludwick was 2-for-3 with 1RBI; senior third baseman Chris Gillette was 2-for-4 with 3 runs scored and he tied the UNLV school record with 4 stolen bases in one game. Junior catcher Harold Betts, who was 6-for-9 in the series, was 3-for-5 with 3 runs scored. Senior right-hander Jimmy Smith recorded his sixth save and his 14th career, which moved him into second place all-time on UNLV's career save list.

UNLV defeated TCU 6-2 on Saturday night. Senior right-hander Bill Scheffels (3-3) continued his solid pitching with his fourth straight complete game. He allowed 4 hits, 2 runs (1 earned), walked 4 and struck out a career-high 11 batters. Scheffels retired 19 out of 22 batters from the second through the eighth innings. Junior second baseman Matt Stoner had a key two-run two out single in the bottom of the fourth to give UNLV a 3-1 lead.

UNLV completed the three-game sweep over the Horned Frogs with a 12-6 victory on Sunday. The Rebels scored 10 or more runs for the 19th time in 49 games this season. UNLV jumped out to a 7-0 lead after four innings. Freshman left-hander Ryan Olson, 3-2, recorded the victory with 5.2 innings. He allowed 6 hits, 3 runs, 5 walks and 4 strikeouts. Junior first baseman Tony DeMarco was 3-for-5 with 2 RBI and Betts was 3-for-4 with 2 runs scored, 2 RBI, 2 doubles and a triple.

UNLV will travel to UNR on Tuesday-Wednesday, April 27-28, for its final two nonconference games of the season. Both games will begin at 2 p.m. at Peccole Park. The games will be broadcast on KSFN AM-1140 radio with Scott Robbs and Scott Taylor.