Feb. 15, 2002

FULLERTON, Calif. - The UNLV baseball team fell to No. 16 Cal State Fullerton 12-2 Friday night at Goodwin Field. The loss drops the Rebels to 4-3 on the season, while the Titans improve to 4-3.

UNLV starter Robbie Van (0-3) had a shaky outing, giving up five earned runs on five hits with only one out to pick up the loss.

David Seccombe and Ben Scheinbaum came in for relief, throwing 4.2 and 3.0 innings respectively, but neither could hold back the Titan bats.

The Rebels also struggled offensively against Fullerton's Wes Littleton, who earned the win. Littleton pitched 8.0 innings with eight strikeouts, giving up just four hits and one earned run.

UNLV's Garett Shitanishi hit a single to center field in the fifth to score Ryan Ruiz who reached on a hit-by-pitch.

In the ninth, teammate James Nepa singled to right field scoring David Trujillo who reached on a double out to left.

Brent Johnson, Jason Reuss, Robert VanKirk and Steve Goldberg each contributed a hit in the losing effort.

Fullerton was led by first baseman Nick Fitzgerald who finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs and one run scored.

The teams return to the diamond at 1:00 p.m. Saturday for the second of the three-game series.