May 4, 2002

PROVO, Utah - The UNLV baseball team dropped an 8-6 decision to the Cougars of BYU on Saturday afternoon in Provo. The loss drops the Rebels to an even 25-25 on the season, 10-13 in Mountain West Conference play. The Cougars improve to 19-25-1, 12-11 in league play.

Jared Bonnell (4-4) picked up the loss in relief of Giovanni Pupo. He pitched 1.1 innings, giving up two runs on three hits. Pupo pitched 4.1 innings, giving up four runs on eight hits. Ben Scheinbaum, Jake Gann and Joe Maruffi combined to finish the game.

BYU's Sam Fernley (1-1) earned the win. He gave up one run on five hits in 2.1 innings of work.

Rebels Joe Wickman and Tony Schuler each went 3-for-5 at the plate, with Schuler driving in a run and scoring twice.

Garett Shitanishi finished the game 2-for-5 with an RBI and one run scored. He hit his fourth home run of the season in the first inning.

Ryan Ruiz, Steve Goldberg and Robert VanKirk added a pair of hits each.

UNLV returns home for the final two weeks of the regular season, beginning with a three-game series against Air Force. Game one begins at 6:30 p.m. Friday.