April 5, 2009
Final Stats
LAS VEGAS - UNLV senior Bryan Resnick came home to score on a wild pitch with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning in the Rebels' 4-3 win over Utah in the final of a three-game set at Earl E. Wilson Stadium on Sunday.
Resnick singled to start off the frame and then moved up to second on a passed ball before Utah reliever Greg Krause got a strike out and a pop out, bringing Scott Berke to the plate with a chance to win the game. Berke didn't need to get a hit, as Krause bounced a 2-1 pitch to the backstop and Resnick came scurrying in for the winning run in the team's first extra-innings game of the year.
With the win UNLV moves to 15-16 on the year and 4-5 in the Mountain West Conference while Utah drops to 13-14 overall and 3-6 in league games. Rebel reliever Chad Nading tossed two scoreless innings of relief to earn his first career win, giving up one hit and striking out two, while Krause was charged with the loss, his first decision of the season.
"It was very important to get a series win against a conference opponent," UNLV head coach Buddy Gouldsmith said. "Andrew Beresford pitched really well today and Nading did a great job out of the bullpen."
Both starting pitchers were effective throughout the game, especially the right-handed Beresford, who worked a career-long eight innings before turning the ball over to Nading. He opened the game with three scoreless innings and gave up three runs, two earned, while striking out six and walking one.
UNLV got on the board first, scoring two runs in the first on a run-scoring triple by Jarred Frierson followed by a sacrifice fly off the bat of Jesse Wight, making it a 2-0 game. After the Utes put up a run in the fourth the Rebels answered with one of their own in the bottom half, when Chad Claus doubled home Anthony Morel, making it 3-1.
Utah tied the game in the top of the fifth, getting a pair of runs in the frame, the first off a solo home run by Austin Jones and then an RBI single by Cory Shimada, which came after an error extended the inning.
That would be the extent of the offense through the next four innings before the Rebels rallied in the 10th to earn the win in front of 612 fans on a sunny afternoon. Each team had nine hits on the afternoon, and in the Rebels' total was a single by J.J. Sferra, extending his hitting streak to 22 games, which is tied for the fourth-longest in school history.
UNLV remains at home and will open up a three-game series with San Diego State on Thursday, with the first pitch between the Rebels and Aztecs set for 7:00 p.m. (PT).
