May 10, 2007
Final Stats
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - UNLV baseball saw its winning streak halted at four games on Thursday, losing 9-4 to New Mexico in the opener of a key three-game Mountain West Conference series between the two clubs at Isotopes Park.
The Rebels fell behind early and could not recover in falling to 18-32 overall on the year and 7-12 in league games, with starter Craig Heyer (5-8) taking the loss as he gave up five runs on eight hits in five innings of work. UNM moved to 23-25 on the year and 9-10 in the MWC, getting a complete game effort from starter Stephen Smith (6-7), who gave up four runs on 11 hits.
Entering today's game just 2.5 games separated third place from sixth place in the league standings with two weeks of regular-season play remaining, and the Rebels and Lobos were two of the those squads. TCU has already locked up the regular season championship.
The Rebels though could not get to Smith until late in the game and by that time it was too little, too late.
UNM jumped out to a 5-0 lead, scoring a pair of runs in the second and third innings and then a single run in the fifth that ultimately ended Heyer's day. An RBI ground out by Drew McDonald scored Matt Hibbetts for the first run of the game and later in the second Jay Russell singled home McDonald for a 2-0 Lobo lead. In the third inning Hibbetts hit a double with two on that scored a run and then Ian Hollick hit a run-scoring single to push the lead to 4-0. Matt Foote led off the UNM fifth with a triple and he later scored on a wild pitch, giving the Lobos a 5-0 advantage.
The lead then ballooned to 9-0 in the seventh, as the Lobos plated four runs off of Rebel relievers Michael Goodman, Stephen Singer and Koji Pupo. Jordan Pacheco and Hollick each hit two-run singles in the frame for the Lobos.
UNLV got on the board in the eighth when Xavier Scruggs hit a two-out double and then scored on Blake Gailen's single to make it a 9-1 ball game. The Rebels scored three runs in the ninth for the final margin, with Keith Smith hitting a two-run home run in the frame. It was the fifth home run of the season for Smith, giving him a team-leading 35 RBI on the season.
Smith and Scruggs each had two hits on the day for UNLV and Braden Walker put together a 4-for-4 effort at the plate as well. But that trio accounted for eight of the Rebels' 11 hits on the afternoon as Smith kept everyone else in check. UNM also had 11 hits in the game led by Hollick's 3-for-3 performance.
UNLV continues its series with New Mexico tomorrow with the game set to start at 11:00 a.m. (PT) with Matt Hutchison taking the mound for the Rebels against Bobby LaFramboise of UNM.
