May 13, 2005

Final Stats

PROVO, Utah - Mike Cruz hit a solo home run to start the top of the ninth inning and UNLV baseball pushed two more runs across the plate to rally past BYU 8-7 in the first game of a Friday double header at Larry H. Miller Stadium.

Trailing 7-5 and down to their last three outs, Cruz lined a 1-0 pitch from Cougar reliever Mathew Jensen over the right-field fence to start the Rebels' rally. Zeke Parraz followed with a double, putting the tying run in scoring position with no outs. Jensen rebounded to strike out Chris Bonnell and then he was relieved by Joshua Barrett who came in and struck out Rebel catcher Justin Tellam.

Barrett then had a 2-2 count on Ryan Bird but could not put him away as Bird hit a double that tied the game at seven. CJ Lang then hit a single that scored Bird, giving the Rebels an 8-7 lead.

Kyle Tabeek earned his MWC-leading fifth save for the Rebels, getting a fly out, a ground out and after he issued a walk, Tabeek got another strike out to close out the game. Efren Navarro Jr. (3-4) worked two innings of relief and was credited with the win. Barrett (2-1) took the loss for the Cougars.

No matter what happens the rest of the series between the two clubs, UNLV is assured of leaving BYU still in first place in the Mountain West Conference as the Rebels moved to 26-24 overall, 20-5 in the league. BYU dropped to 33-16-1 on the year, 17-8 in the MWC, three games behind UNLV with five league games remaining for each team.

UNLV trailed 2-1 heading into the fourth inning before rallying for two runs in that frame and another pair in the fifth for a 5-2 lead. Tyler Beranek hit a RBI single in the fourth and Bonnell later scored on a throwing error that gave the Rebels a 3-2 advantage. In the fifth Tellam hit a sacrifice fly for the first run and then Lang hit a RBI single to push the score to 5-2.

Rebel starter Matt Luca couldn't hold the lead though as he gave up four runs in the bottom of the fifth on four hits. Brandon Taylor had the first big hit in the inning for the Cougars, a two-run double that pulled the Cougars to within on at 5-4. One batter later Ryan Chambers hit a two-run single that gave BYU the lead at 6-5. The lead grew to two runs in the bottom of the eighth when Kory Knell hit a RBI single, but the 7-5 lead was not enough for the Cougars.

Cruz finished the game 2-for-5 at the plate with two runs scored and the big home run in the ninth and Lang drove in two RBI as well for the Rebels.