March 5, 2008
Final Stats
TUCSON, Ariz. - UNLV entered the seventh inning tied with No. 1 Arizona, but the Wildcats blew open a close game and went on to beat the Rebels 16-6 on Tuesday afternoon at Frank Sancet Stadium.
The Rebels had tied the game at four in the top of the sixth on solo home runs by Xavier Scruggs and Drew Beuerlein and got one out in the bottom of the seventh before the game got out of hand. The Wildcats scored seven runs in the frame and then tacked on five more in the eighth to turn a tight affair into a rout.
UNLV reliever Justin Baca (0-1) took the loss, giving up three of the runs in the game-changing seventh, as the Rebels saw their overall record evened at 5-5. UA improved to 7-1 on the year as Eric Berger picked up the win coming out of the bullpen.
Steve Rinaudo got the Rebels on the board first, hitting a sacrifice fly to right in the first inning that scored Jesse Wight. The Wildcats then countered with a four-run fourth inning to move back in front, with the big hit being a two-run single by Mike Weldon.
UNLV fought back as Bryan Resnick hit his first home run of the year, a solo shot in the fifth, to bring his squad to within two at 4-2 before the Rebels tied it in the sixth on two more long balls. Scruggs' blast was his team-leading fourth of the year, while it was the first of the season for Beuerlein.
From there it was all Wildcats, as they touched up Baca for three runs and Corey Hales for four runs to move out in front 11-4. Weldon hit a two-run triple in the inning, and he finished the game with five RBI. In the eighth UA loaded the bases to start the inning off of Rebel closer Marc Baca, and then Dillon Baird cleared them with a double to left field, starting a five-run frame for the Wildcats.
UNLV capped the scoring by pushing two runs across the plate in the top of the ninth on run-scoring singles by Scott Berke and Rinaudo.
The Rebels return to Las Vegas to start a four-game homestand, beginning with a three-game series against San Francisco that gets underway Friday night at 6:30 p.m. (PT) at Earl E. Wilson Stadium.
