May 17, 2007
Final Stats
LAS VEGAS - UNLV baseball got a three-run lead and then held on late to beat Air Force 4-3 in the opener of the Rebels' final regular-season series at Earl E. Wilson Stadium on Thursday night.
The Rebels carried a 4-1 advantage into the ninth but the bullpen gave up two runs and had the bases loaded before getting the final out to improve to 20-34 overall and 8-14 in MWC play. UNLV starter Craig Heyer pitched six strong innings and improved to 6-8 on the year, giving up one run on six hits to go along with five strikeouts. Air Force dropped to 8-42 on the year and 0-21 in league play, with starter Casey Allen (0-3) taking the loss.
Air Force took a short-lived 1-0 lead in the top of the second when Addison Gentry led off the inning with a double and then later scored on a ground out.
UNLV answered with three straight singles by Efren Navarro Jr., Xavier Scruggs and Blake Gailen to start the bottom of the frame that tied the game at one. The Rebels though could not get any more runs across the plate though as Allen picked off Gailen at first base and then got to fly outs to end the inning.
Gailen would atone for his base-running mishap, snapping the 1-1 tie in the fifth inning with a solo home run over the right-field fence, his fifth round tripper of the season. The lead grew to 3-1 later in the inning when Ryan Kowalski doubled in Braden Walker, who had reached on a single.
The Rebels got an insurance run in the bottom of the eight when due to Mitch Brown's inability to issue an intentional walk.
Brown waked Kowalski and then Keith Smith to start the frame and then Navarro Jr. moved them up 90 feet on a sacrifice bunt. Brown struck out Xavier Scruggs for the second out of the inning, bringing Gailen to the plate. AFA head coach Mike Hutcheon elected to issue Gailen a free pass, but the third ball by Brown was too wide, allowing Kowalski to score. That insurance run would prove to be the difference in the game for the Rebels, as the Falcons came flying back in the top of the ninth.
UNLV reliever Adam Moser came in to get the save and promptly retired the first two batters he saw before running into trouble. Air Force rapped out four consecutive singles, scoring two runs and chasing Moser in the process. Koji Pupo came out of the bullpen and hit Ben Ausbun, loading the bases again.
Rebel head coach Buddy Gouldsmith made another move to the bullpen, this time bringing in Marc Baca to face Jason Griggs with the game on the line. Griggs worked the count full before Baca got him to ground out to first to end the game, giving him his fifth save of the season.
Gailen finished going 3-for-3 with three RBI and a run scored to lead the Rebels' nine-hit attack. Pupo's appearance in the ninth gave him 88 for his career, tying him with Ben Scheinbaum (2001-04) for the all-time UNLV record. AFA had 11 hits on the evening with Geno Salazar collecting three of them.
UNLV and Air Force continue their series tomorrow night at 6:30 p.m. (PT) with Matt Hutchison slated to take the mound for the Rebels against Alex Truesdale for the Falcons. Friday night's game will be broadcast live on KSHP 1400 AM with Mitch Moss calling the action.
