May 23, 2006

Final Stats

LAS VEGAS - The road to a fourth-straight Mountain West Conference Tournament title just got longer for UNLV baseball on Tuesday night, as the Rebels lost 17-2 in their opening round game to New Mexico at Earl E. Wilson Stadium.

The fourth-seeded Rebels committed four errors in the second inning and the pitching staff gave up 19 hits, including three home runs to the fifth-seeded Lobos, who got a strong pitching performance from starter Danny Ray Herrera.

With the loss UNLV dropped to 27-29 and will now play on Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. (PDT) against the winner of Wednesday morning's game between San Diego State and Air Force, which starts at 9:00 a.m. UNM improved to 29-27 with the win and will play top-seeded TCU on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m.

UNLV scored the first run of the game, as Ryan Kowalski led off the game with a single, stole second, moved to third on a single by Keith Smith and then scored on a ground out by Chris Bonnell for a quick 1-0 lead.

That lone run would be all that would go UNLV's way the rest of the night however.

UNM used four Rebel errors in the top of the frame to plate four unearned runs off of starter Matt Luca, who committed the first error on a throw that allowed the first run to score. Following that error, Bonnell failed to catch a throw to first, allowing a run to cross the plate, third baseman Willie Bowman made a throwing error that cost the Rebels a run and then the final run of the inning was scored on a fielding error by Keith Smith. In the frame the Lobos used just one single to score its runs and move ahead 4-1.

In the bottom of the fourth, UNLV appeared to close within one at 4-2 when Albert Zerega Jr. hit an apparent two-out double down the right-field line that pushed Zach Borba across the plate. The Lobos appealed that Zerega Jr. did not touch first base, and the appeal was upheld and he was called out, ending the inning and taking the run off the board.

That 4-1 advantage was all that Herrera would need, as the MWC Co-Pitcher of the Year tossed seven strong innings, giving up the lone run on five hits while striking out seven with one walk.

UNM went on to score 11 more runs over the next four innings, with Chris Carlson providing most the damage. He hit a three-run home run in a four-run fifth inning for the Lobos and then added a grand slam in a six-run eighth inning that gave UNM a 15-1 lead. He finished the night going 5-6 with seven RBI and four runs scored.

The Rebels pushed a run across the plate in the bottom of the eighth, using three consecutive singles by Kowalski, Smith and CJ Lang to plate the run. UNM then capped the scoring with a pair of runs in the top of the ninth.

The loss kept UNLV head coach Buddy Gouldsmith (99-82) one win shy of reaching the century mark for career wins. The 17 runs were the most that the Rebels had given up in a game since they lost to Utah 18-8 on May 17, 2003.

Kowalski was a bright spot at the plate for the Rebels, going 3-4 with two runs scored. Luca worked 4.1 innings in the loss, allowing eight runs, four earned, on six hits while walking three and striking out one.

Game 3 Notes:

• New Mexico won its first MWC Tournament opening round game since 2001 (7-4 vs. Utah). The Lobos are now 3-4 in their first game of MWC Tournaments. UNLV is now 4-2 in opening round tournament contests as members of the Mountain West (the Rebels had a first round bye in 2005).

• The Lobos snapped an eight-game losing streak vs. the Rebels with tonight's win. The Rebels averaged over 13 runs per game in those eight wins, but were held to two runs tonight. UNM averaged 10.6 runs per contest in the previous eight games vs. UNLV.

• The No. 5 seed now holds a 3-1 advantage over the No. 4 seed in MWC Tournament play. In opening round games, the fifth-seed is now 5-2, while the fourth-seed is 1-6. Overall, the No. 5 seed is 7-12 in the MWC Championship, while the fourth-seed falls to 4-13 all-time.

• MWC Co-Pitcher of the Year Danny Ray Herrera moved his record to 10-0 on the season with his victory over the Rebels tonight. In his 8.0 innings of work, Herrera gave up one earned run and struck out seven batters, while scattering five hits and walking only one.

• The last time UNLV gave up 17 runs in a game was April 16, 2004, when they defeated Utah, 19-17.

• New Mexico scored at least 17 runs in a game for the sixth time this season.

• UNLV had four errors vs. New Mexico, all of which came in the second inning, setting a new MWC Tournament record for errors in an inning.

• The Rebels' 17-2 loss to the Lobos marks the largest margin of defeat in MWC Championship history for UNLV. The previous largest margin of defeat for UNLV was five runs in a 7-2 loss to BYU in last year's tournament.

· New Mexico's Chris Carlson batted .300 vs. UNLV in his previous three games vs. UNLV this season and went 5-for-6 tonight, setting a new career-high for hits in a game and falling a triple short of hitting for the cycle. He hit a grand slam and a three-run homer, while tallying seven RBI and three runs scored. Carlson's seven RBI ties the MWC Tournament record for RBI in a single game. Carlson now has four multi-homer games this season (six for his career).

• Matt Foote went 4-for-6 vs. the Rebels, tying his career-high for hits in a game, which was set earlier this season.