March 4, 2001

College Station, Texas - UNLV dropped its opening two games in the Aggie Continental Express Baseball Classic. The Rebels opened the day with a 3-2 loss to Indiana State, followed by a 2-0 loss to Penn State.

Indiana State (1-1) picked up its first win of the season with the 3-2 victory.

UNLV's Giovanni Pupo pitched a solid 6.0 innings, giving up two runs on seven hits. C.J. Martin (1-2) started the seventh and gave up the final run with one out in the seventh to pick up the loss. ISU's Mike Scott, who also started the seventh inning, earned the win.

Both teams went scoreless into the third when Indiana State's Jason Frome tripled to score Chad Zaucha who reached on a double.

UNLV answered in the fourth with a pair of runs. Brent Johnson began the inning with a walk and advanced to second on a Tony Schuler sacrifice bunt. A Brad Beasley homerun down the left side gave the Rebels a one run lead heading into the final three innings.

The Sycamores tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the sixth on a Caleb Regar single that scored Greg Wear.

With the Rebels unable to score in the seventh, the stage was set for Indiana State's Tommy Jeffers' game-winning single RBI up the middle.

UNLV managed only three hits, one each from John Cruz, Jason Reuss and Brad Beasley

Against Penn State in the second game, Robbie Van pitched a solid complete seven-inning game, but couldn't get the run support to earn the win. He gave up only five hits with one earned run and four strikeouts.

The Rebels again posted only three hits in the game. Ryan Ruiz went 2-for-2, while Tony Schuler finished the game 1-for-3.

Penn State's Dan McCall earned the win, He pitched 2.1 innings with four walks and two strikeouts.

UNLV plays two games on Monday in the rain-shortened Aggie Continental Express Baseball Classic. The Rebels begin with a rematch against Indiana State at 11:00 a.m. (PST) and follow with a 3:00 p.m. match-up against tournament host Texas A&M.