March 18, 2000
Box Score
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - Utah's Adam Castleton's RBI single capped a five-run, ninth-inning rally to lead the Utes to a 10-9 come from behind victory over the UNLV baseball team on Saturday at Franklin-Covey Field.
Utah (10-14, 3-2 MWC) used three hits and two Rebel errors to erase a 9-5 lead by UNLV (7-20, 0-5 MWC) in the ninth.
UNLV's offense took advantage of the Utes in two separate innings. The Rebels jumped out to an early lead, sending eight batters to the plate and scoring five runs in the top of the first.
Sophomore Joe Maruffi pitched well with the lead, not allowing a Ute hit until the third and holding Utah scoreless until the fourth. The Utes closed the gap to 5-2 on Sam Swenson's RBI triple and a sacrifice fly by Jed Chrisman to score Swenson.
Chrisman belted a solo home run in the sixth to trim the Rebels' lead to 5-3, but UNLV answered right back with four runs in the top of the seventh when Brad Maloff hit a bases-loaded double to put his team up 9-3.
Utah continued to chip away as Donald Hawes hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh to pull the Utes within four. That ended Maruffi's outing after 6.2 innings, seven hits and five strikeouts.
Senior closer Andy McCulloch entered the game in the eighth seeking his second save of the year. After putting out the fire in the eighth, McCulloch got into trouble early in the ninth. An error, a single and a walk loaded the bases for Swenson, who hit a routine grounder to third. The ball scooted between the legs of Nate Kaup, allowing two runs to score and the tying run to go to first.
Chrisman followed with a double to score the next two runners, tie the game and put the winning run in scoring position with nobody out. Two batters later, Castleton singled to left to give the Utes the victory.
UNLV, still searching for its first Mountain West Conference win of the year, will complete the three-game series with Utah on Sunday, March 19 at Covey Field. Game time is 12:00 p.m. PT, and the game can be heard live in Las Vegas on AM 1400 KSHP with Scott Robbs calling the action.
