April 7, 2001
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The UNLV baseball team dropped a 15-10 decision to New Mexico on Saturday at the Sports Stadium in Albuquerque. The loss was UNLV's tenth straight to New Mexico, dating back to the 1999 season. The Rebels fall to 14-21 overall and 5-9 in the Mountain West Conference, while the Lobos improve to 18-22, 8-6 in league play.
The Rebels held a 9-1 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth inning before the Lobo bats came to life. New Mexico scored four runs in the fifth, four in the seventh and six in the eighth.
The Rebels should have been out of the eighth inning down by just one run if not for a crucial error. New pitcher Brad Maloff came on for Chad Harris and induced Mark Okano to ground to short, but Ryan Ruiz bobbled the ball and could not make a play, leaving the bases loaded with two outs. UNM's Anthony Lovato cleared the bases with his third home run of the season, and the Rebels could not recover.
Jared Bonnell, who started, pitched six innings and gave up six runs on six hits with eight strikeouts. He was nearly untouchable through four innings, giving up only one run in the third.
Doug Thornton (1-1) picked up the loss for the Rebels. He pitched 1.1 innings, giving up two runs on three hits. Robbie Van gave up three runs on two hits, but was unable to record an out before being replaced on the mound. Harris and Maloff each pitched 0.1 innings with two unearned runs each.
New Mexico's Jeff Perez (2-1) earned the win. He pitched the final two innings, giving up no runs with only one hit.
David Trujillo extended his hitting streak to eleven games, going 3-for-4 with one RBI and two runs scored.
Jason Reuss went a perfect 3-for-3 in the game with two RBIs and one run scored. Trent Kitsch also picked up a pair of RBIs in a 2-for-5 outing. John Cruz and Ryan Ruiz each added a pair of hits in the loss.
Garett Shitanishi, Brent Johnson and Brad Beasley each added a single hit.
New Mexico was led by Donny Sevieri, who went 4-for-4 with six RBIs and three runs scored. He hit two homeruns in the game, his sixth and seventh of the season.
The Rebels and Lobos play the final game of the three-game series on Sunday at 12:00 p.m. PST.
