Feb. 23, 2002

LAS VEGAS - UNLV baseball fell 8-3 to Michigan State on Saturday night to move back to .500 (6-6) on the season. The Spartans are off to a 2-0 start.

Doug Thornton (0-1) picked up the loss with only 0.2 innings of work after giving up three two-run homers in the first inning.

Ben Scheinbaum gave an impressive performance in relief, but the Rebel bats could not make up for the damage done. Scheinbaum faced 20 batters, striking out six and giving up only one run on two hits.

UNLV put up one run in the eighth, but Michigan State cut short the rally attempt then answered with a solo home run by James Moreno in the ninth.

Garett Shitanishi led UNLV at the plate. He finished 2-for-4 with one run scored and extended his consecutive-game hitting steak to 10. Derek Amundsen also added a pair of hits in the game.

MSU's Nick Bates (1-0) picked up the win, pitching 7.0 innings with nine strikeouts. He gave up two runs off five hits

UNLV Tournament action concludes Sunday with UNLV taking on UC-Santa Barbara at 3 p.m. Michigan State will meet Creighton in the early game at 11 a.m.