March 18, 2001

LAS VEGAS - The UNLV baseball team dropped its third straight to San Diego State, 9-2, on Sunday afternoon at Earl E. Wilson Stadium. The Rebels move to 3-3 in the Mountain West Conference, 11-15 overall. The Aztecs improve to 14-9, 4-2 in league play.

Though they never led, the Rebels played a tight 3-2 contest into the ninth inning before the combined pitching of Brad Maloff, Chad Harris and Joe Maruffi gave up six runs to close the game. Ryan Olson (0-1), who started the contest, picked up his first loss of the season. He pitched four innings, giving up three runs on six hits with four strikeouts.

SDSU's Marcos Mendoza (2-3) earned the win, giving up two runs on five hits with eleven strikeouts. Royce Ring picked up his third save, having entered the game with a 3-2 lead in the eighth.

Ryan Ruiz led the Rebels offensively, finishing 2-for-4. Brent Johnson, David Trujillo, Joe Jacobitz, Dan Price and Brad Beasley managed a single hit each.

UNLV continues conference play with a three game set at Utah beginning on Friday at 2:00 p.m.