May 9, 2008
Final Stats
LAS VEGAS - UNLV baseball tied the game with two outs in the ninth to force extras, but New Mexico scored a run in the 10th to go on to a 6-5 victory on Friday night at Earl E. Wilson Stadium.
Braden Walker's clutch two-out hit off of UNM closer Clinton Cox tied the game at five, the first Rebel run since the fourth inning, exciting the 441 fans in attendance. After getting the first two outs of the inning UNLV closer Adam Moser gave up back-to-back extra-base hits in the 10th inning, and the Rebels could not answer in the bottom half.
With the loss UNLV dropped to 20-30 on the year and 8-11 in MWC games, with Moser (6-5) taking the loss, giving up the run in the 10th inning, the first run in 5.2 innings of work by the bullpen. UNM improved to 30-20 overall and 14-5 in league games, with Cox (3-0) earning the win after he blew the save in the ninth inning.
The Lobos scored the first three runs of the game, one in the first on a throwing error and then a pair in the second on an RBI single by Scott Gracey and a sacrifice fly by Matt Hibbits.
UNLV chipped away at the three-run deficit, scoring twice in the bottom of the second inning, the first on a single by J.J. Frierson that pushed one run across the plate. Later in the inning Bryan Resnick hit a sacrifice fly to right for the second run of the frame for the Rebels, making it a 3-2 game.
The Rebels took the lead in the bottom of the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Michael Brenly and then a run-scoring ground out by Frierson, making the score 4-3.
It didn't take long for UNM to regain the lead, scoring a pair of runs of its own in the top of the sixth on a pair of run-scoring singles to move back out in front, 5-4.
UNLV knotted the score at five in the bottom of the ninth inning to force extras on a two-out single to right by Walker, scoring Sferra, who singled and then moved to second on a walk. The Rebels went on to load the bases but Joe DiMaggio flew out to right to end the threat.
Sferra had three hits and Frierson finished the game with two hits and a pair of RBI, as the Rebels had 13 hits as a team. New Mexico had 10 hits on the evening, with three players collecting two hits each.
UNLV and New Mexico continue their three-game series, with the first pitch set for 2:00 p.m. (PT), and the game will be carried live by 1400 KSHP AM.
