April 18, 2008
Final Stats
LAS VEGAS - UNLV baseball's offense was held in check by San Diego State starter Stephen Strasburg, as he limited the Rebels to five hits in a 17-1 win on Friday night at Earl E. Wilson Stadium.
Strasburg struck out 13 batters in seven innings of work and did not walk a batter, with the only extra-base hit a double by Ryan Thornton that led off the third inning. The strong performance by Strasburg came a week after he struck out a Mountain West Conference record 23 batters against Utah on April 11.
With the loss the Rebels dropped to 16-20 on the year and 5-8 in league games while SDSU improved to 23-15 and a league-leading 10-3 in MWC games. Matt Hutchison (1-3) took the loss, giving up eight runs on 10 hits in four innings of work while Strasburg (5-1) picked up the win.
It was a 4-0 game heading into the fifth when SDSU exploded for 10 runs in the frame, sending 14 batters to the plate against three UNLV pitchers. The Aztecs hit three home runs and a pair of triples in the game-changing frame that gave them a 14-0 lead.
That would be more than enough on the evening, as Strasburg worked seven strong innings followed by two scoreless frames from Michael Dixon.
The Rebels would break up the shutout in the bottom of the ninth, putting two men on followed by a single to right field by Drew Beuerlein that scored Xavier Scruggs.
UNLV continues its series with league-leading San Diego State, as the two teams will meet again at 2:00 p.m. (PDT), with the game being carried live by 1400 KSPH AM.
