April 19, 2009
Final Stats
LAS VEGAS - UNLV baseball capped a four-game series sweep against Northern Colorado with a 14-4 win on a sunny Sunday afternoon at Earl E. Wilson Stadium, putting on an offensive show with 17 hits for the 362 fans in attendance.
The win was the Rebels' fifth in a row and moved them to 20-18 on the year, with starter Jeff Urlaub (4-5) earning the win, as he settled in after a rough first inning gave up just one more run over the next four. The left-hander gave up six hits, struck out two and did not walk a batter in his five innings of work, and the Rebel bullpen closed out the game with four scoreless innings of relief.
Northern Colorado dropped to 9-25 overall, with starter Jason Quisenberry (2-2) taking the loss, allowing eight runs on eight hits in one-plus inning on the mound.
The Rebels actually trailed after one half-inning of play, giving up three runs to the Bears in the opening frame on four hits, including a two-run home run off the bat of Erik Hegstad that went over the right-field wall. It was the first time in the series that Northern Colorado had the lead, and the three runs matched the entire offensive production by the Bears in the previous three games.
That lead would not last long, as the Rebels plated four runs in the bottom of the first to move out in front 4-3, an advantage that would grow as the game went on. UNLV scored seven times in the second to move the lead to 11-3, and from there the rout was on.
J.J. Sferra extended his hitting streak to 27 games in the first-inning rally with a single to first base, and he would come around to score on a fielder's choice ground out. Jesse Wight had an RBI single, Scott Berke a run-scoring double and Anthony Morel capped the scoring with a sacrifice fly, as the Rebels batted around in the opening inning.
UNLV would then send 11 batters to the plate in the bottom of the second inning, scoring seven runs on seven hits to effectively put the game away early on. The big hit in the inning was double by Berke with the bases loaded down the left-field line that cleared the bags. Morel and Resnick also had run-scoring hits in the frame for the Rebels.
Eight of the nine Rebel starters had at least one hit, paced by Berke and Jesse Wight, who each had three on the afternoon, and Wight hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning to cap the scoring. Wight had three RBI and also scored three times, while Resnick and Ryan Thornton each came around to score a trio of runs as well.
UNLV now heads out on a five-game road trip, beginning with a pair of non-conference games at Texas Tech on Tuesday and Wednesday, and then traveling to Colorado Springs for a three-game set against Air Force.
