April 29, 2007
Final Stats
LAS VEGAS - UNLV baseball junior Kevin Skogley turned in the finest pitching performance of his career, tossing his first complete game to lead the Rebels to an 8-3 win over Utah at Earl E. Wilson Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Skogley (1-4) went the distance in front of 321 sun-splashed fans, giving up nine hits, striking out four and walking just two batters over nine innings of work to collect his first win of the season. It was also the first complete game for UNLV in more than two years, with Derek Rodriguez the last Rebel to work all nine innings as he went the distance at Utah in an 11-3 win on April 17, 2005.
Behind the phenomenal effort of Skogley, the Rebels were able to snap their 12-game losing streak and improve to 15-31 on the year and 4-11 in Mountain West Conference games. The losing skid was started by Utah back on April 1, and the Utes fell to 21-22 overall and 9-6 in league play with the loss today.
The first of those nine hits and three runs that Skogley surrendered came off the bat of Ute leadoff hitter Nate Burnham, who hit a solo home run to left field to open the game and give Utah a 1-0 lead. After giving up another single Skogley then settled in and retired nine of the next 11 batters he faced before running into trouble in the fourth.
John Welsh led off the inning with a single and then Cody Guymon hit the second home run of the game for the Utes, a shot to left field that cut the Rebel lead to 4-3. From there though, Skogley kept Utah in check. He retired six consecutive batters, worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth and then closed the afternoon by retiring nine of the final 10 Ute hitters he faced.
While the big left-hander was dominating on the mound the Rebel offense backed him with a 12-hit effort off of three Ute pitchers.
UNLV tied the game at one in the bottom of the first with a two out rally, as Keith Smith singled and then scored on a double by Xavier Scruggs that made it a 1-1 game. The Rebels then jumped in front in the second inning, plating three runs off of DeVore with the big blow in the inning a two-run single to center field by Ryan Kowalski that made it 4-3.
Following the Utes' two-run fourth inning, UNLV answered with three runs of its own in the bottom half of the frame to extend the lead to four at 7-3 behind a blast from Scruggs.
DeVore quickly got the first two outs in the fourth but Smith singled and Efren Navarro Jr. drew a walk, bringing Scruggs to the plate. He slugged his team-leading fifth home run of the season over the wall in left field to clear the bases, giving Skogley all the run support he would need.
UNLV added an insurance run in the bottom half of the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly by Smith that scored Calvin Beamon from third for the final 8-3 margin. It capped a superb day at the plate for Smith, who went 3-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored.
Scruggs was one of three Rebels who had two hits on the afternoon, going 2-for-4 with four RBI and a run scored. He also made a several strong defensive plays at third and the Rebels did not commit an error in the game.
UNLV will now leave Las Vegas for the squad's final road trip of the regular season, a six-game swing that begins with a three-game series at San Diego State beginning Friday night at 6:00 p.m. (PT) in San Diego.
