April 25, 2008

Final Stats

OGDEN, Utah - UNLV baseball scored the first run of the game on Friday night, but host Utah answered in going on to a 10-2 victory in the opener of a three-game Mountain West Conference set at Lindquist Field. The series is being played in Odgen due to scheduling conflicts in Salt Lake City.

With the loss the Rebels dropped to 18-22 overall and 7-9 in MWC games while the Utes improved to 15-20 and 4-8 in league games. UNLV starter Matt Hutchison (1-4) took the loss, as he gave up six runs on seven hits over five innings of work. Utah starter Stephen Fife (5-3) earned the win, as he tossed a complete game, giving up just the two runs on seven hits while striking out nine.

UNLV struck first, pushing a run across the plate in the second inning to take the early lead.

Drew Beuerlein drew a two-out walk, moved to second on a hit-by-pitch and came around on Bryan Resnick's single to right field. That would be the only serious threat that UNLV would mount against Fife, who did not allow a Rebel to reach second the rest of the game.

The Rebels' only other run of the game was a solo home run by Xavier Scruggs, a one-out blast to center field that gave him a league-leading 16 round trippers on the year. Scruggs collected three of UNLV's seven hits on the evening.

Utah tied the game in the bottom of the second on a an RBI ground out, then took the lead for good in the third, scoring two runs on a Jesse Shriner home run, making it a 3-1 game. The Utes tacked on three more runs in the fifth on four-straight hits, giving them a 6-1 lead and ending Hutchison's night on the mound.

The Utes got another run in the sixth on a bases-loaded walk, then got three in the seventh on another bases-loaded walk followed by two-run off the bat of Tyler Relf, making it a 10-1.

UNLV and Utah continue their series tomorrow, with game two set for 5:00 p.m. (PDT) at Lindquist Field in Ogden.