Jan. 29, 2005

LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Junior pitcher Matt Luca pitched five scoreless innings and sophomore Chris Bonnell hit a three-run double in a six-run sixth inning for the Rebels as UNLV beat the Rebel Alumni team 10-2 on a soggy afternoon at Earl. E. Wilson Stadium. It was the third consecutive time that UNLV has defeated the Alumni team in the annual game.

Luca, pitching through a steady rain that cancelled the home run derby scheduled for Saturday morning, struck out four and gave up just two hits.

CJ Lang put UNLV on the board in the bottom of the fourth with a two-run single that scored Willie Bowman and Albert Zerega.

The Alumni team answered in the its half of the sixth when Jason Reuss (2001-02) drilled a pitch from Rebel senior Derek Rodriguez over the fence in right-center field for a two-run home run, knotting the game at 2.

In the Rebels' half of the sixth, sophomore Justin Tellam led off with a double and then Lang walked and JC Sibley was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Anthony Hernandez drew a walk to score Tellam before Bonnell broke the game open with a bases-clearing double off the leftfield wall.

The Rebels tacked on two more runs in the inning to put the Alumni team away. Bonnell added another RBI in bottom of the seventh to finish the game with four.

UNLV finished the game with 12 hits and no errors, while the Alumni had five hits and one error.

Saturday's exhibition was the final tune-up for the Rebels, who open the 2005 regular season at home against Cal State Northridge on Feb. 4 at 6:30 p.m. (PST).