May 26, 2006

Final Stats

LAS VEGAS - UNLV baseball saw its bid for a fourth-straight Mountain West Conference Tournament crown end in a 10-4 loss to BYU in an elimination game Friday night at Earl E. Wilson Stadium.

The fourth-seeded Rebels scored the first run of the game in the top of the first inning but the second-seeded Cougars put eight runs on the board through the first three innings and the deficit was too much for UNLV to overcome.

With the loss UNLV ends its season with a 29-30 overall record with starter Chris Saddoris (6-8) being charged with the loss as he gave up six runs on seven hits in two innings. BYU improved to 33-27 with the victory and will face TCU for the championship on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. (PDT). If the Horned Frogs win, they will receive the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament while the Cougars need to win twice tomorrow to move on.

Chris Bonnell put UNLV out in front 1-0 when he hit a two-out single that scored CJ Lang, who had singled and then moved to second on a throwing error by BYU starter Patrick Wells.

BYU came right back though and touched up Saddoris for three runs in the bottom of the frame, with the big blow a two-run home run off the bat of Jeff Hiestand. That would be the beginning of a big night at the plate for Hiestand, who became the first player to hit for the cycle in a MWC Tournament game.

The Cougars added a pair of runs in the second to go up 5-1 when Marcos Villezcas singled in two and then they went up 8-1 with three more runs in the third.

That would be enough for Wells (7-6), who tossed a complete game for the Cougars, allowing four runs, three earned, on seven hits while striking out three and walking three. Wells, who in his last start against UNLV gave up five runs and did not make it out of the first inning back on April 6, held the UNLV bats in check on a windy night.

Zach Borba hit a solo home run to lead off the top of the fourth inning, his second of the year and Xavier Scruggs hit a two-run shot in the seventh inning that made the score 10-4, but the Rebels could get not mount a late-inning rally.

Borba finished the game going 2-4 with the home run and a double, but he was the only Rebel with two hits on the night. Hiestand finished the game going 5-5 with three RBI and two runs scored and he completed the cycle by hitting a triple in the bottom of the eighth inning.

UNLV's 29-30 record to end the season marks the first losing campaign for the Rebels since 2001 and it is just the 10th one in 40 seasons of Rebel baseball.