April 6, 2006
Final Stats
LAS VEGAS - UNLV baseball scored five runs in the opening inning but that was all it got in losing to visiting BYU 9-5 in the Mountain West Conference home opener for the Rebels on Thursday night at Earl E. Wilson Stadium.
UNLV dropped to 15-18 on the year, 2-3 in MWC play with the loss, which came in front of 906 fans and a national CSTV audience. Alex Chalfant (1-3) took the loss out of the bullpen, giving up two runs in the fourth inning that broke a 5-5 tie. BYU moved to 12-17 on the year and 2-3 in league play, as freshman Jordan Muir came in out of the Cougar bullpen with one out in the first and did not allow a run in eight innings of work, allowing just four hits and two walks while striking out five.
Trailing 2-0 heading into the bottom of the frame, UNLV put five runs on the board, getting a two-run home run by CJ Lang and a three-run shot by Chad Miller to move ahead 5-2. The big start to the inning chased Cougar starter Patrick Wells and BYU head coach Vance Law brought in Muir from the bullpen. The right hander retired two of the next three batters he faced in the first and then got on a roll, allowing just three singles the rest of the way.
UNLV could not make its 5-2 first-inning last long, as the Cougars scored three in the top of the second to knot the game, getting runs on two ground outs and a double off of starter Kevin Skogley.
The big left hander would last just 2.2 innings, as Skogley gave way to Chalfant out of the Rebel bullpen. The right hander then gave up a two-run home run to Jeff Hiestand in the top of the fourth inning that gave BYU a 7-5 lead. The Cougars added two more runs in the eighth, when Hiestand hit a single to left field off of Koji Pupo, making the margin 9-5 BYU.
Lang finished the night going 2-5 with two RBI and a run scored and catcher Braden Walker was 2-4. UNLV finished the game with eight hits and no errors and BYU had 12 hits and also committed no errors.
The two teams will be back in action tomorrow night, as Matt Luca (1-1) gets the start for the Rebels and he will face Jesse Craig (1-5) for BYU with the first pitch scheduled for 6:30 (PT).
