March 18, 2005

Final Stats

LAS VEGAS - UNLV baseball opened Mountain West Conference play in impressive fashion Friday night, blowing out Air Force 11-2 before 246 fans on a chilly, windy night at Earl E. Wilson Stadium.

With winds blowing out toward left field and gusting as high as 35 miles an hour, the Rebels teed off on Falcons' pitching, ripping five extra base hits, including two home runs, to improve to 7-15, 1-0 in the MWC. Air Force dropped to 4-14, 0-1. UNLV right hander Derek Rodriguez pitched six innings, giving up just two runs, one earned, in winning his first game of the season, moving his record to 1-3. Paul Vignola lasted just two innings in the loss, giving up seven runs on six hits as he remained winless on the year at 0-3.

UNLV dodged a bullet in the first inning as Air Force had the bases loaded with one out after Rodriguez started the game by giving up a single and then two walks sandwiched around a strikeout. He settled down though, striking out Nathan DeRohan and getting Brent Tittle to ground out to end the rally.

After the Rebels escaped the top half of the first inning without any damage done they proceeded to destroy any thoughts of Air Force winning the opening game of the series in the bottom half.

Ryan Kowalski drew a walk with one out and then advanced to third on a double by Zeke Parraz. A passed ball allowed Kowalksi to cross the plate and moved Parraz down to third. Matt Fry then drove in Parraz on a ground out, making the score 2-0 UNLV.

The Rebels weren't finished though.

Ryan Bird singled and Justin Tellam was hit by a pitch, bringing Chris Bonnell to the dish. The sophomore first basemen cleared the bases, drilling a fastball from Vignola over the left field fence for a three-run home run. The blast was Bonnell's second of the season, making the score 5-0.

The Rebels tacked on two more in the second, as JC Sibley reached on a single then scored on a triple by Kowalski, who was then driven in on a single by Parraz, pushing the score to 7-0.

While the Rebels offense was cruising, so was Rodriguez on the mound. He struck out the side in the second inning and finished the game with a career-high eight strikeouts, the most for a Rebel pitcher in a game this season. Rodriguez gave up lone runs in the fifth and sixth, and the one in the sixth was unearned.

Out of the Rebel bullpen Chris Huseman and Wayne Foltin picked up where Rodriguez left off in the sixth. Huseman worked the seventh and eighth, allowing just two hits while striking out three. Foltin then worked a 1-2-3 ninth, striking out the side to end the game.

UNLV added a run in the fifth and sixth innings and then Tellam put the punctuation on the game in the eighth, drilling his fifth home run of the season. The sophomore catcher pounded a two-run shot to cap the scoring.

The two teams play again Saturday afternoon with the first pitch scheduled to be thrown at 2:00 p.m. (PST) at Earl E. Wilson Stadium.