March 5, 2006

Final Stats

LAS VEGAS - UNLV baseball nearly pulled out its third straight come-from-behind win against No. 8 Texas, as the Rebels scored three runs in the ninth but could not come all the way back in losing to the Longhorns 9-8 at Earl E. Wilson Stadium.

Trailing by four runs entering the bottom of the ninth Sunday afternoon, UNLV loaded the bases with no outs but Texas reliever Austin Wood temporarily stalled the rally by getting a pop out and then a strike out. That brought Rebel leftfielder Keith Smith to the plate, who already had hit a game-winning grand slam and a game-tying single in the series. Smith hit a fly ball to the right-center alley that appeared to be the final out of the game, but UT centerfielder Drew Stubbs had the ball bounce off his glove. That error cleared the bases, making it a one-run game at 9-8 with Smith standing at second.

Wood was able to wriggle off the hook, getting a foul pop out by Chad Miller to end the game and keeping the Rebels from sweeping the defending national champions in front of 2,143 fans.

The loss snapped UNLV's five-game winning streak as the squad dropped to 6-9 on the year. Jabe Beard was charged with the loss, his first decision of the year. Texas improved to 10-8, as Kyle Walker (2-1) came out of the bullpen to pitch three innings in getting the win and Wood picked up his first save of the season.

For the first time in the series the Rebels scored first, pushing a run across the board in the bottom of the third inning on a RBI groundout by Zach Borba that scored Braden Walker. Texas then tied the game in the top half of the fourth when Carson Kainer singled in Stubbs.

After the Rebels scored another run in their half of the fourth inning on a fielder's choice ground out that scored Smith, the Longhorns grabbed their first lead of the afternoon by scoring two runs in the top of the fifth inning.

UNLV's offense was stymied after that, as the Longhorn duo of starter Riley Boening and Walker limited the Rebels to just the two runs on two hits through six innings.

From there though the two teams would score six runs each in the final three frames as both team's bullpens, combined with some costly errors, turned a pitcher's duel into a high-scoring affair.

Nick Peoples led off the seventh inning with a home run to left field, hitting the first pitch he saw from Beard. Texas would add two more runs in the frame when Bradley Suttle hit a two-run single to center field for a 6-2 lead.

But as they did the entire series, the Rebels fought back, scoring a pair of runs off of Longhorn reliever Jordan Street to make the margin 6-4.

Texas then plated two more runs in the eighth on a costly error by Rebel catcher Albert Zerega Jr. The senior catcher threw the ball past Walker at third base, allowing two runs to score, increasing Texas' lead to 8-4. Rebels answered with a run of their own in the frame that made the score 8-5 heading to the final inning.

Texas was able to push one more run across the plate in the top of the ninth inning on an RBI by Preston Clark that scored Kainer. That one run was pivotal as Texas escaped with the win.

Smith finished the game with two hits and also scored two runs while Walker scored two runs and CJ Lang had two hits as well. Peoples went 2-4 with the home run and two RBI for Texas and on the series he was 11-14 with seven runs scored and six RBI.

There will be no rest for the Rebels, as they host Texas Tech for a two-game series that begins Monday night at 6:30 p.m. (PST) at Earl E. Wilson Stadium. Ryan Tabor will get the start for the Rebels.