Feb. 26, 2005
Final Stats
LAS VEGAS - UNLV hung with No. 6 Cal State Fullerton and had a one-run lead, but the Rebels' bullpen couldn't hold it and the Titans rallied for a 10-4 win Saturday at Earl E. Wilson Stadium.
UNLV fell to 2-9 with the loss, while CSF moved to 6-2. Rebel reliever Matt Wagner dropped to 0-2 on the season while Ricky Romero improved to 3-0.
The Titans opened the game by scoring two runs in the first as Bobby Andrews led off the game with a triple and scored on a single by Justin Turner, a preview of the fireworks that Turner would provide. Turner later scored on a single by Brett Pill, and CSF had a 2-0 lead.
UNLV got an RBI single in their half of the first inning from CJ Lang that scored Matt Fry, making the score 2-1, but Turner answered that run with a solo home run over the left field wall, putting CSF back up two runs at 3-1.
After Romero struck out five Rebels in the first three innings, UNLV touched up CSF's star left-hander in the fourth for three runs to grab a 4-3 lead.
Tyler Beranek and Chris Bonnell each singled with one out, and Willie Bowman followed with a double that scored Beranek and moved Bonnell to third. Bonnell was driven in on a groundout that moved Bowman to third, who would later score on a wild pitch by Romero, making the score 4-3.
That would be all that Romero would allow, as he pitched scoreless baseball the rest of the game, striking out 12 in eight innings of work. At one point he had retired 15 of 16 UNLV batters after the fourth inning.
While their lefty was keeping the Rebels' bats silent, the Titans were making their own noise, scoring seven runs in the final four innings of the game.
CSF tied the game in the sixth on a Ronnie Prettyman double that scored Pill, knotting the game at four. In the next inning Turner put CSF ahead with his second solo-shot of the game, again driving a ball over the left field wall.
The Titans added two runs in the eighth and another three in the ninth for the final margin.
UNLV and CSF will play the rubber match of their three-game series Sunday at Earl E. Wilson Stadium with the game schedule to start at 1:00 p.m. (PST).
