June 3, 2005

Final Stats

TEMPE, Ariz. - UNLV baseball jumped out to a three-run lead but a seven-run fifth inning kept the No. 4 seeded Rebels from turning the upset Friday afternoon as they lost 12-8 to top-seeded Coastal Carolina in the opening game of the Tempe Regional at Packard Stadium.

With the loss the Rebels dropped to 34-28 overall on the year while CCU improved to 49-14. No. 2 seed Arizona State (34-22) plays No. 3 seed East Carolina (35-24) in the second game of the day at 7:00 p.m. (PT) and the Rebels will play the loser of that in an elimination game at 2:00 p.m. Saturday. Coastal Carolina will play the winner at 7:00 p.m.

UNLV starter Matt Luca (5-7) took the loss, giving up seven runs on 10 hits over 4.1 innings of work. Ricky Shefka (12-2) picked up the win for CCU, working 6.1 innings and giving up six runs, five earned on 14 hits. Mike Costanzo got the last out of the game to earn his 14th save of the season. Costanzo also went 2-6 at the plate with a double and two RBI.

The Rebels had a strong day offensively, racking up 18 hits, including four each by Zeke Parraz and Chris Bonnell as six of the nine starters had at least one hit. UNLV scored runs in five of the nine innings and had opportunities for more as they left 15 men on base. CCU only had one more hit than the Rebels and the Chanticleers also left a lot of men on base, stranding 13.

It was the fifth inning that was the difference in the game.

CCU sent 12 batters to the plate in the seven-run fifth inning for the Rebels and the Chanticleers had five players hit run-scoring singles in the rally. Luca gave up four of the runs before he was chased and Erick Brock came in out of the Rebel bullpen but could not get UNLV out of the inning without giving up more runs. The capper of the rally was a two-run single by Tommy Baldridge that put CCU up 10-3. UNLV cut the Chanticleer lead to four twice, including in the ninth inning but the large deficit was too much for the Rebels to overcome.

The bottom of CCU's order did the most damage for the Chanticleers as 6-9 hitters Baldridge, Aaron Verrett, Josh Eachues and Jon Foisy combined to go 11-17 with seven RBI and seven runs scored.

The Rebels struck first, plating two runs in the top of the third inning on two pitches from Shefka. Parraz reached base on a single off the first pitch he saw and then Bonnell took the first pitch to him over the left-field wall for a 2-0 UNLV lead. It was just the 10th home run that Shefka had given up on the year and it seemed to rattle the right-hander, who hit the next three batters he faced to load the bases. Shefka regrouped to get a pop out and a foul out to get the Chanticleers out of the inning giving up just the two runs.

UNLV extended its lead to three an inning later on the hustle of JC Sibley, who turned a short single into a double to lead off the fourth. Sibley moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Parraz for a 3-0 lead.

Luca was cruising through the first three innings, giving up just one hit before running into trouble in the fourth. CCU had five consecutive hits with one out, including a two-run home run by Aaron Verrett to tie the game at three. The inning could have been worse for the Rebels though as the Chanticleers had the bases loaded with one out with Costanzo up. Luca struck out Costanzo and then got DeJesus to ground out to end the inning and keep the score even heading into the difficult fifth inning.

Derek Rodriguez will get the start for the Rebels tomorrow and the right-hander will bring a 5-5 record with a 5.28 ERA and 72 strike outs to the mound Saturday.

-Rebel NCAA Tournament Notes- -With the loss UNLV is now 9-19 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and 4-7 in Regionals held at Tempe, Ariz.

-UNLV has now lost its last four NCAA Tournament games it has played in. The Rebels lost their last game in the 2003 Tempe Regional to Arizona State 16-1 and then lost both of their games at the 2004 Stanford Regional 10-4 to Stanford and 9-6 to St. John's.

-UNLV's last win in the NCAA Tournament came during the 2003 Tempe Regional, a 16-10 over New Mexico State.