April 5, 2007

Final Stats

PROVO, Utah - UNLV baseball had two large leads in the game but in the end could not shut down BYU's offense in losing 14-13 on Thursday night at Larry H. Miller Field in the opener of a three-game series.

The Rebels had no problems scoring runs, jumping out to an early 5-0 lead and then an 11-5 lead, but the pitching staff could not make either lead hold up and UNLV dropped to 14-21, 3-4 in Mountain West Conference action. The Cougars pounded out 12 hits in improving to 17-13 and 4-3 in league play.

Four errors also hurt the Rebels, as the last two runs scored by the Cougars were unearned and came in a four-run seventh inning that turned a three-run UNLV lead into a one-run deficit. Apana Nakayama drove in the game-winning run on an RBI single, but pitcher Marc Baca and the Rebels should have been out of the inning already if it were not for a throwing error by Baca earlier in the frame.

Baca (2-2) was charged with the loss, as he did not record an out in the seventh and was credited with the two unearned runs that decided the game. Brad Kidd (1-0) came out of the Cougar bullpen and was the only effective pitcher on the evening for BYU as he allowed just two hits and no runs in three innings to get the win.

UNLV raced out to a 5-0 lead, scoring three runs in the first and then single runs in the second and third courtesy of solo home runs by Braden Walker and Keith Smith. In the three-run first Michael Brenly got the scoring started with a solo home run and later in the frame Ryan Kowalski hit a two-run single.

Rebel starter Kevin Skogley gave the lead back in the bottom of the third, giving up five runs on four hits, including a two-run home run by Kent Walton that knotted the score.

The Rebels bounced back though in the top of the fourth, plating six runs on five hits to go up 11-5 in the high-scoring affair. Calvin Beamon drove in the first run on an RBI double, Smith singled in a run, Chad Miller hit a two-run double, another run scored on a ground out and Willie Bowman capped the inning with a run-scoring single.

Skogley though gave up a pair of runs in the bottom half of the fourth to end his night and then Chris Saddoris allowed three in the bottom of the fifth that brought BYU to within one at 11-10.

UNLV's offense kept churning out runs, scoring two more in the top of the seventh to extend the lead to 13-10. Xavier Scruggs singled in the first run and Brenly added a run-scoring single of his own, but the Rebel bullpen could not make the lead stand.

BYU scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh to take its first lead of the game at 14-13, one that the Cougars would not relinquish. T.J. Musso drove in the first two runs of the rally on a single and then following a fielder's choice that tied the game, Nakayama hit the game-winning single with two out off of Rebel reliever Koji Pupo.

Kidd, who came into the game in the seventh, was able to keep the Rebels off the board the rest of the way to allow the Cougars to escape with the win.

Kowalski, who was named the MWC Player of the Week on Monday, finished the game with a trio of hits and three RBI. Smith and Brenly each had a pair of hits and two RBI. The two teams combined for 28 hits with 10 of them going for extra bases, including five home runs. Musso had three RBI and three runs scored to pace the Cougar offense.

UNLV and BYU continue their series on Friday, with game time set for 5:00 p.m. (PST) from Larry H. Miller Field.