May 15, 2008

Final Stats

LAS VEGAS - UNLV baseball lost 10-1 to Air Force on Thursday afternoon at Falcon Stadium in the opener of both team's final Mountain West Conference series.

With the loss, UNLV fell to 20-34 overall and 8-14 in Mountain West games while Air Force moved to 17-32, 3-19 in league play. AFA starter Alex Truesdale (3-6) earned the win, tossing a complete game and giving up the lone run while striking out eight and walking one. Rebel starter Thomas Whitsett (2-5) took the loss, as he allowed five runs on six hits in 4.1 innings of work before turning the game over to the bullpen.

The Falcons jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, with two of those runs coming on solo home runs by Josh Meents in the second inning and Addison Gentry in the third.

UNLV got on the board in the top of the fourth via the long ball as well, with Xavier Scruggs hitting a solo shot over the right-field wall, making it a 4-1 game. It was the 20th home run of the season for Scruggs, who became the first Rebel to hit at least 20 home runs since Kevin Lofthus hit a school-record 26 in 1989.

From there the Falcons would extend their lead, scoring a run in the fifth on a Nathan Carter solo home run before blowing the game open with a three-run sixth for an 8-1 lead. The Falcons tacked on runs in the seventh and eighth to cap the scoring.

Truesdale held the Rebels to eight hits as a team, and Michael Brenly was the only Rebel to get more than one hit, going 2-for-4 on the afternoon. Air Force finished the game with 14 hits, including seven that went for extra bases.

UNLV and Air Force continue their series tomorrow, with the first pitch set for 12:00 p.m. (PST) as Marc Baca will get the start for the Rebels opposite Jake Petro for the Falcons.