May 12, 2006
Final Stats
LAS VEGAS - Braden Walker extended UNLV baseball's winning streak to three games, hitting a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Rebels a 12-8 win over visiting New Mexico at Earl E. Wilson Stadium on Friday night.
Walker took the first pitch he saw from Lobo reliever Damon Miller high over the left-field fence for Walker's third home run of the year and second-career game-winning hit. Earlier this year he hit a single with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth in UNLV's 9-8 win over defending national champion Texas on March 4.
UNLV improved to 22-28 with the win, 7-10 in Mountain West Conference play with Jabe Beard (1-2) picking up the final five outs to earn the victory. UNM dropped to 28-22 overall and 10-7 in league action and Quentin Andes took the loss after he walked the first two batters he faced in the bottom of the ninth.
After those two walks, Andes went to a 2-0 count on Rebel left fielder Blake Gailen before Lobo head coach Rich Alday went to the bullpen and brought in Miller with Walker coming to the plate. While any type of deep fly ball would have driven in the run, Walker made sure there was no question, ending the game with the grand slam.
The clutch hit saved the Rebels, who scored the first five runs of the game and also had an 8-5 lead late, but both times UNM rallied to tie the game.
UNLV scored four runs in the opening inning off of UNM starter Jesse Perez, with CJ Lang hitting an RBI double that scored Ryan Kowalski for the first run of the game. After a ground out Lang moved to third on a single by Chris Bonnell and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Chad Miller that made the margin 2-0. Gailen then followed with a single and then he and Bonnell scored when Walker hit a single that was misplayed by Lobo right fielder Chris Dabbs, giving the Rebels a 4-0 lead.
Lang hit another double in the second inning, this one scoring Mike Cruz and UNLV had a quick 5-0 lead. Rebel starter Kevin Skogley could not make the lead hold, as he gave up two runs in the third inning and then three more in the fifth before he was chased after working 4.1 innings.
UNLV moved back ahead in the bottom of the fifth when Cruz hit a two-run double and then later scored on a single by Kowalski, making the score 8-5. UNM once again came back though, scoring three runs in the top of the eighth to tie the game heading into the final frame.
Beard, who got the final two outs in the eighth inning and kept the score tied at eight, retired the Lobos in order in the top of the ninth, setting the stage for the Rebels and Walker.
Walker finished the game going 2-5 with five RBI and two runs scored and Cruz was 3-4 with a pair of RBI and runs scored as well. UNLV finished the game with 12 hits and committed three errors while UNM had 12 hits as well and four errors.
UNLV and New Mexico continue their series tomorrow, with Rebel left-hander Efren Navarro Jr. slated to get the start against Lobo left-hander Danny Ray Herrera. Before the game UNLV will honor eight seniors playing in their final regular-season home series and the first pitch is slated for 2:00 p.m. (PDT).
Fans can also listen live on KSHP 1400 AM with Jon Sandler handling the play-by-play.
