March 30, 2008
Final Stats
LAS VEGAS - For the second straight day UNLV baseball won with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, scoring the winning run on an error for a 7-6 victory over TCU at Earl E. Wilson Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Rebel third baseman Braden Walker lifted what looked to be a routine fly ball down the line to Horned Frog right fielder Chris Ellington and extra innings appeared imminent. But the ball bounced out of his glove and Jesse Wight scored easily from third, sending the 424 fans home happy for a second-straight day.
"It is great to win a series against those guys, especially with how they have had our number the past couple years," UNLV head coach Buddy Gouldsmith said. "Our guys battled in sub-par conditions and hopefully this will give them confidence and we can get on a little bit of a roll."
UNLV reliever Adam Moser (4-1) gave up just one run over the final three innings to earn the win and the Rebels evened their record at 12-12, 4-2 in the Mountain West Conference. TCU dropped to 14-12 overall, 2-4 in league play as Paul Gerrish (2-2) took the loss, giving up the one unearned run in 3.1 innings on the mound.
Wight led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk, but Gerrish rebounded to get the next two Rebel batters to pop out. Rance Roundy then hit a two-out single and Wight, who was running on the pitch, rambled all the way to third. Walker then worked the count full before lifting the eventual game winner into the sky at Wilson Stadium.
That was the third TCU error on the day, compared to just one miscue by UNLV, as both teams also combined for 24 hits on the afternoon.
Rebel shortstop Jarred Frierson, who ended yesterday's game with a walk-off solo home run, picked up where he left off, singling in two runs in the bottom of the second for a 2-0 Rebel lead. TCU answered in the top half of the third, getting solo home runs by Chris Ellington and Bryan Kervin off of UNLV starter Thomas Whitsett, knotting the score at two.
The Horned Frogs took a short-lived 3-2 lead in the top of the fourth before the Rebels responded by scoring the game's next four runs to take a 6-3 lead.
Micheal Brenly doubled home Roundy in the fourth, Steve Rinaudo singled in J.J. Sferra in the fourth and then the Rebels scored two runs in the sixth on one hit. Brenly reached on an error to start the sixth and then would come around and score on a single by Sferra and Frierson would later score in the inning on a balk.
TCU fought back and tied the game in the seventh, scoring two runs on three-straight doubles to start the inning to get within one at 6-5. Moser would get two outs but could not keep the lead, as he gave up a run-scoring single to Hunt Woodruff that tied the game at six.
The one run would be all that Moser would allow though, as he struck out three and gave up just three hits in another strong outing coming out of the bullpen.
"Moser did a great job today," Gouldsmith said. "We brought him in a little earlier than usual today, but I thought the save situation was in the seventh inning today."
Brenly finished the game with three doubles in four at-bats and also scored twice for the Rebels, while Roundy and Sferra each had a pair of hits as well.
UNLV will now travel to face in-state rival Nevada, Reno at Peccole Park on Tuesday, with the first pitch set for 4:00 p.m. (PDT).
