May 17, 2005
Final Stats
LAS VEGAS - UNLV starter Matt Wagner allowed just one run over five innings and the bullpen kept Western Illinois off the board the rest of the way as the Rebels won 7-1 Tuesday night at Earl E. Wilson Stadium to start a four-game homestand that closes out the regular season.
Wagner gave up four hits, did not walk anyone and struck out two in moving his record to 4-3 on the year. Alex Kringen worked two innings of scoreless relief and Eric Brock and Wayne Foltin each threw an inning to close out the game. The trio gave up just three hits over the final four innings, as each allowed one.
UNLV moved back above .500 with the win, improving to 27-26 overall. Western Illinois dropped to 23-29 on the year. John Paul Shore (0-2) took the loss for the Leathernecks, giving up three runs, all earned, in two innings of work.
The Rebels got on the board first, scoring a run in the bottom of the opening inning on a fielder's choice by Chris Bonnell that drove in CJ Lang. UNLV added two more runs in the second as Mike Cruz hit a single with the bases loaded that scored Ryan Kowalski and Tyler Beranek.
WIU plated their only run of the game in the next inning when Wagner gave up two of his four hits to the Leathernecks. Adam Smith led off the frame with a triple in the right-center gap and after Wagner got two infield pop outs, Ryan Schmidgall hit a single to score Smith, making the score 3-1.
Two costly errors by WUI allowed the Rebels to put the game out of reach in the fourth inning.
CJ Lang hit a one out single and then Cruz and Zeke Parraz both drew walks to load the bases. Bonnell hit a ground ball to WUI second baseman Jim Sanew, who misplayed the ball and Lang scored on the error. Justin Tellam followed and he hit a ground ball to the left side of the infield that third baseman Tyler Johnson let get by him that allowed Parraz and Cruz to score, pushing the UNLV lead to 6-1. After a strike out Beranek hit a single that pushed Bonnell across the plate, giving the Rebels a 7-1 lead.
UNLV closes out its regular season with three games against Utah at home beginning Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Earl E. Wilson Stadium. The Rebels have a one-game lead in the Mountain West Conference standings with a record of 20-7 and are ahead of BYU which has a 19-8 mark in league play. The Cougars close out their regular season on the road at San Diego State. If the Rebels sweep the Utes then UNLV will win the regular season MWC Championship.
