April 16, 2006

Final Stats

FORT WORTH, Texas - UNLV baseball tied the game twice but could not grab a lead in losing to TCU 3-2 on the road to in a Mountain West Conference game at Lupton Stadium on Easter Sunday.

In the fifth inning the Rebels tied the game at two when Zach Borba tripled with one out, bringing home Mike Cruz, who had led off the inning with a double. The Rebels could not get Borba home, as TCU reliever Sam Demel came in out of the bullpen and struck out Ryan Kowalski looking and got CJ Lang to fly out, ending the threat. TCU then scored the deciding run in its half of the fifth inning in getting the win.

UNLV dropped to 16-22 with the loss, its third straight, and 3-7 overall in league play with Matt Luca (1-3) taking the loss despite pitching his strongest game this year. TCU improved to 22-16 and are in first place in the MWC with a 9-1 record. Demel (5-2) earned the win, giving up one hit and striking out five over the final 4.2 innings of the game.

The game was dominated by pitching, as neither team scored more than one run in an inning and each team was held to just five hits each.

TCU got on the board first, pushing a run across the plate in the third inning when Ryan Pack doubled to open the frame and then later scored on a ground out by Chad Huffman. UNLV knotted the game at one in the top of the fourth when Chad Miller hit his team-leading eighth home run, a solo shot to left field.

The Horned Frogs regained the lead in the bottom of the inning when Keith Conlon scored on a single by Corey Steglich that made the score 2-1 in TCU's favor, setting up the deciding fifth inning.

Luca was effective in his fourth start of the year, giving up the three runs on just four hits in working 4.2 innings. Ryan Tabor then came on in relief and was nearly perfect the rest of way, allowing one hit and striking out one while walking no one in 3.2 innings. TCU starter Zach Ashwood had a strong outing, allowing two runs on four hits and striking out three.

Miller finished the day going 2-4, adding a single to his home run as he was the only Rebel with more than one hit on the afternoon. Cruz drew two walks to go along with his double and run scored.

The Rebels return home for a three-game series against visiting San Diego State with the first game scheduled for Friday at 6:30 p.m. (PDT) at Earl E. Wilson Stadium.