March 21, 2008
Final Stats
FULLERTON, Calif. - UNLV baseball had an early two-run lead but fell behind and could not come back, losing to No. 23 Cal State Fullerton 11-5 at Goodwin Field on Friday night.
The Rebels trailed by just two heading into the eighth inning, but the Titans put four runs on the board in the bottom of the frame to break open a tight affair. UNLV dropped to 9-10 on the year with its third-straight loss and starter Thomas Whitsett (2-1) was charged with the defeat after he gave up seven runs, all earned, on nine hits in 5.1 innings of work. CSF moved to 11-8 overall with starter Daniel Renken (4-1) earning the win, giving up three runs, one earned, on 10 hits in 5.2 innings on the mound. Adam Jorgenson pitched two scoreless innings to earn the save.
UNLV turned a one-run deficit into a two-run lead in the top of the fifth, scoring three runs to move out in front, 3-1, getting four hits in the rally.
Bryan Resnick reached on an error with one out, J.J. Sferra singled and then Jesse Wight singled, scoring Resnick to tie the game at one. Xavier Scruggs followed with a double down the left-field line that scored Sferra and Wight scored on the play as well.
CSF got a run back in the bottom of the frame to cut the Rebel advantage to one, then the Titans regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth, scoring five runs to move in front by four at 7-3.
Whitsett, who had pitched well in the previous five innings, allowed six of the first seven CSF hitters to reach base, giving up a two-run double to Jon Wilhite and run-scoring singles to Joel Weeks and Jeff Newman. UNLV went to the bullpen, turning the game over to Justin Baca, who gave up a run-scoring triple to Josh Fellhauer, making it a 7-3 game with three innings to go.
UNLV cut the lead to two in the top half of the seventh, as Scruggs walked and Braden Walker singled in front of a one-out double by Michael Brenly to left field that cleared the bases. Anthony Morel drew a two-out walk off of reliever Brian Wilson, but he got out of the jam by striking out Resnick to end the threat.
The Rebels threatened in the top of the eighth, putting the tying runs on base with no outs on walks by Sferra and Wight, bringing in CSF reliever Adam Jorgenson out of the pen. The move worked, as he got Scruggs to pop out before striking out Steve Rinaudo and Walker to end the inning and keep it a two-run game.
CSF then added four insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth off of UNLV reliever Marc Baca, loading the bases and scoring a run on a hit batter before Jared Clark cleared them with a double for the final 11-5 score.
UNLV had 11 hits on the evening, with Brenly getting three of them himself to go with three RBI while Sferra also had a trio of hits. CSF also had 11 hits on the evening, paced by Fellhauer who went 3-for-4 with two RBI.
UNLV and CSF conclude their series Saturday, with the final of the three-game series set to start at 1:00 p.m. (PDT) at Goodwin Field.
