March 29, 2008

Final Stats

LAS VEGAS - UNLV sophomore Jarred Frierson picked an opportune time to get his first career home run, drilling a walk-off with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to give UNLV a 7-6 win over TCU at Earl E. Wilson Stadium.

Frierson, who had 16 at-bats all year, came up with two outs against Andrew Cashner and he took a fast ball over the center-field wall, just the second extra-base hit in his career. It sent the majority of the 402 fans who enjoyed a pleasant afternoon at very happy.

"I just wanted to hit a fastball, square it up and put it in play," Frierson said. "It feels really good to get a win that we needed."

UNLV battled back to tie the game late, scoring three runs in the seventh and a run in the eighth after it had fell behind by four following the top of the seventh. That set the stage for Frierson and his dramatic, game-winning round tripper.

With the win the Rebels improved to 11-12 on the season and 3-2 in Mountain West Conference games while TCU dropped to 14-11 and 2-3 in league games. Adam Moser came out of the UNLV bullpen and worked a scoreless ninth to earn the win, making sure it was still a 6-6 game heading into the bottom of the frame. Cashner took the loss, his first of the year, as he gave up three runs, two earned, in 2.2 innings of relief work.

"We have played so many close games and we have continually talked to the team about someone needing to step up and be a hero," UNLV head coach Buddy Gouldsmith said. "That is exactly what Frierson did today for us. We didn't play extremely well today, but we kept it close and gave ourselves a chance to win."

Xavier Scruggs doubled to open the seventh and was followed by a single off the bat of Rance Roundy, putting runners on the corners for the Rebels. Scruggs came in to score on a balk by TCU starter Sean Hoelscher and then Roundy trotted across the plate later in the inning on a sacrifice fly by Frierson, making it a 6-5 game. The Rebels knotted the score an inning later on a sacrifice fly by Roundy that scored J.J. Sferra.

Sferra tripled to open the game for the Rebels and he came into score on a ground out by Jesse Wight for a 1-0 lead after the first inning. TCU knotted the game at one in the top of the second on a Chris Ellington single that scored Steve Ellington.

TCU put three runs on the board in the top of the fourth, using five hits and a pair of Rebel errors to grab a 4-1 lead. The big hit in the inning was a two-run single by Clint Arnold off of UNLV starter Corey Hales that capped the Horned Frog rally.

UNLV cut the lead in half at 4-2 when Wight reached on a bunt single, moved to third on a double by Scruggs and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Roundy. The Horned Frogs answered again though, scoring two runs in the top of the seventh to move out to a four-run lead on a two-run single by Jimmie Pharr.

Scruggs and Sferra each had two hits on the afternoon to pace the Rebels at the plate, who finished with seven on the day to go along with three errors. Pharr had three RBI and two hits for the Horned Frogs, who collected 11 hits in the game.

UNLV and TCU wrap up their series Sunday, with the first pitch set for 1:00 p.m. (PDT) at Wilson Stadium in a game that will be carried live by KSHP 1400 AM.