April 9, 2008
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - UNLV and Stephen F. Austin were tied late in the ball game, but the Rebels gave up two eighth-inning runs and lost, 8-6, to the Lumberjacks on Wednesday afternoon at Jaycees Field.
UNLV drops to 14-16 overall on the year, with Marc Baca (0-2), who gave up the go ahead run in the eighth on a single that snapped a 6-6 tie. SFA improved to 14-17 with the victory, which went to Jeremy Tamez (2-0), while Richard Folmer worked a scoreless ninth inning to earn the save.
The loss means that UNLV split the series with SFA, as the Rebels won the first-ever meeting with the Lumberjacks, 6-5, on Tuesday afternoon
It was a 2-2 ball game heading into the fifth inning when UNLV scored three runs to move out in front of SFA, 5-2, on four hits, including a pair of doubles.
Jesse Wight singled and Xavier Scruggs followed with a double, putting two runners on for Ryan Thornton, who drove in the first run of the inning with a single to right-center field. Thornton then stole second and Braden Walker hit a two-run double to left, pushing Scruggs and Thornton across the plate for a 5-2 Rebel advantage.
The Lumberjacks responded by scoring two runs in the bottom half of the inning despite not getting a hit, scoring runs on a wild pitch and a botched pickoff attempt by Rebel reliever Michael Goodman, making it a 5-4 game. UNLV pushed the lead back to two in the seventh on a J.J. Sferra single that scored Bryan Resnick, but SFA tied the game in the bottom of the seventh on a two-run double by Mat Whatley.
For the second straight inning Stephen F. Austin would score another pair of runs, going ahead 8-6 in the bottom of the eighth inning, getting RBI singles from Kirby Kai and Kevin Crabtree. Those two runs would prove to be the difference.
Thornton had his best day as a Rebel, going 3-for-5 with three RBI and a run scored to pace the offense, which had 15 hits as a team. SFA finished the game with nine hits, three of them off the bat of Kevin Crabtree.
UNLV remains in the Lone Star State and will travel to TCU for a three-game Mountain West Conference Series, with the first game set to start on Friday at 4:00 p.m. (PT) at Lupton Stadium in Fort Worth.
