May 17, 2001

SAN DIEGO - UNLV fell to New Mexico 5-2 in the second round of the Mountain West Conference Tournament at Tony Gwynn Stadium on Thursday night.

Jared Bonnell (4-7) picked up the loss for the Rebels. He pitched 7.0 innings, giving up five runs on six hits with five strikeouts. Giovanni Pupo and Brad Maloff combined to finish the game, giving up only one hit.

The Lobos' Jeremy DeYapp (4-3) picked up the win. He pitched 8.2 innings, giving up both UNLV runs on six hits with eight strikeouts. Jeff Perez pitched the final at-bat with a strikeout to earn his seventh save of the year.

Brent Johnson and Trent Kitsch led the Rebels offensively, each going 2-for-4 in the game. Johnson also picked up an RBI.

Brad Beasley went 1-for-3, hitting his seventh home run for the season. Joe Jacobitz went 1-for-4 with one run scored.

David Trujillo went 0-3, bringing his MWC record 29-game hitting streak to an end. He was walked in his final at-bat of the game.

With the loss, UNLV will face No. 1 seed BYU at 11:00 a.m. on Friday. The Cougars won four of the six meetings between the two teams in regular season play.

BYU defeated Air Force 7-1 in the opening round of the conference tournament, but lost a close 15-14 match with Utah on Thursday afternoon.

If the Rebels win the Friday morning game against BYU, they will face New Mexico again in the 7:00 p.m. game for a chance to advance to the final day of competition. A loss to BYU in the morning game would eliminate the Rebels from tournament play.