March 19, 2006

Final Stats

LAS VEGAS - In what is quickly becoming the norm this season, UNLV baseball tied the game in the ninth and then won it in the 10th on a Mike Cruz single, giving the Rebels an 8-7 win against The Citadel at Earl E. Wilson Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Trailing 7-6 heading into the ninth inning, Chris Bonnell hit a sacrifice fly to right field that scored CJ Lang, tying the score at seven after the Bulldogs had grabbed an 7-6 lead of their own in the top half of the frame. The win marked the fifth time this year that the Rebels won when they were either trailing or tied entering the final three innings of a game. It was also the first three-game sweep of an opponent by UNLV this year.

Jabe Beard (1-1) earned the win out of the bullpen, retiring the Bulldogs in order in the top of the 10th after he had allowed the go ahead run an inning early. UNLV moved back to .500 for the second time this season with the win at 12-12. Link Saunders (3-2) was charged with the loss and The Citadel fell to 12-9 and remained winless on the road this season.

Rebel centerfielder Ryan Kowalski started the tenth inning with a single off of Saunders, who entered the game with a 0.47 ERA and seven saves. Kowalski then moved to second on a sacrifice, bringing Cruz to the plate. Cruz laced a single to center field that Bulldog outfielder Trent Weathers played perfectly, firing a throw to home plate. Kowalski slid under the tag of catcher Brady Masak, giving the Rebels the win. Unlike the previous two games when the Rebels scored 11 and five runs in the opening frames to build a big advantage, it was a 2-2 ball game after three innings. The Rebels then scored the next four runs of the game to go up 6-2.

UNLV used three consecutive doubles by Keith Smith, Bonnell and Michael Brenly, and then a sacrifice fly by Braden Walker to go up 4-2 in the fourth inning. The Rebels then doubled their lead the next inning with Lang scoring on a wild pitch and Bonnell hitting another double that scored a run, making the score 6-2.

The Citadel started to slowly chip away at the lead, scoring a run in the sixth, a pair in the seventh a then one more in the eighth to tie the game at seven entering the ninth. Beard started the ninth by getting a strike out but then walked Trent Weathers, bringing Matt Covington to the plate. Covington hit a hard liner that hit the top of Cruz' glove and forced its way out, allowing Weathers, who was running on the play, to go to third. Matt Matulia then gave the Bulldogs the lead with a sacrifice fly, but Beard got a ground out to get the Rebels out of the inning without giving up any more runs.

Lang was hit by a pitch by Saunders to open the ninth, and from there two well placed bunts by the Rebels loaded the bases against Saunders. Cruz rolled a bunt down the first-base line that Saunders misplayed and then Smith pushed a bunt down the third-base line that the Bulldog infield thought would roll foul but stayed fair. Bonnell then hit a deep fly ball to right field that scored Lang, tying the game at eight. Saunders got out of the ninth without giving up any more runs, but could not make it through the tenth unscathed.

Bonnell finished the game with three hits and three RBI, including the pair of doubles while Lang and Smith each scored three runs with Smith added three hits of his own.

The win wrapped up a strong home stretch for the Rebels, who played 15 of their last 16 at home and were 11-5 in that stretch, with a loss at UCLA the only road game played. UNLV heads to the road next weekend and will play their next seven away from home, beginning with a three-game series against the University of San Diego next Friday at 2:00 p.m. (PST).