March 20, 2008

Final Stats

FULLERTON, Calif. - UNLV baseball had the tying run on second in the ninth inning but could not get him home and the Rebels lost the first game of its series with No. 23 Cal State Fullerton, 6-5, at Goodwin Field on Thursday night.

The Rebels saw their record evened at 9-9 on the year, with Corey Hales (3-1) taking the loss, as he gave up six runs, four earned, on seven hits in 5.2 innings of work. Jeff Kaplan (3-1) earned the win for the Titans, who improved to 10-8 on the year. Ryan Ackland picked up the save, working a scoreless ninth inning.

After falling behind by two runs after the first inning, the Rebels tied the game in the top of the second on an RBI double by Braden Walker followed by a run-scoring single by Michael Brenly.

The Titans moved back out in front in the bottom of the second inning on an Erik Komatsu RBI single for a 3-2 lead, one they would not relinquish. CSF added two runs in the bottom of the fourth on a wild pitch and a Corey Jones single for a 5-2 advantage.

UNLV scored single runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, sandwiched around a CSF run in the sixth, to make it a one-run game at 6-5. Xavier Scruggs hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth, Bryan Resnick singled in a run in the sixth and then Scruggs drilled his team-leading sixth home run of the year in the seventh, a solo shot to left field.

Jesse Wight singled to lead off the ninth inning and then moved up to second on a ground out by Scruggs, bringing Steve Rinaudo to the plate with a chance to tie the game. CSF reliever Ryan Ackland struck out Rinaudo and then got Rance Roundy to ground out to short, ending the game.

Scruggs finished the game with a pair of RBI while Brenly, Resnick and Walker each had a pair of hits and drove in a run on the evening. Jones paced CSF at the plate, collecting two hits and driving in a pair of runs.

UNLV and CSF continue their series on Friday, with the second game set to start at 7:00 p.m. (PDT) at Goodwin Field.