May 14, 2009
Final Stats
LAS VEGAS - UNLV baseball grabbed an early lead thanks to the long ball but No. 14 TCU got going in the middle innings and the Rebels lost 10-4 on Thursday night in the opener of a three-game Mountain West Conference series at Earl E. Wilson Stadium.
The Rebels got a pair of solo home runs to take an early 2-0 lead, but the Horned Frogs reeled off the next eight runs before UNLV would score again, using big fourth and seventh innings to go on to the win.
UNLV dropped to 26-28 overall and 9-13 in the MWC, with Tanner Peters (5-7) taking the loss, as he gave up four runs on two hits in 3.1 innings of work. TCU improved to 33-12 overall and 13-5 in league games, and Paul Gerrish (5-1) earned the win, allowing just the two runs over x innings on the mound. The Rebels did learn that they will be the fifth seed in next week's MWC tournament as San Diego State beat Utah tonight, making the Utes the sixth seed.
With two outs in the bottom of the first Ryan Thornton crushed his 10th home run of the season over the wall in right-center field, giving the Rebels a 1-0 lead. Then with two outs in the bottom of the second Bryan Resnick sent another pitch over the wall in right field, his sixth of the year, and the Rebels had a 2-0 lead.
But from there the Horned Frogs would get to Peters, who retired the first six batters he faced before allowing a run in the third and then three more in the fourth, ending his night. TCU got on the board in the third on a sacrifice fly and then the big hit in the fourth was a two-run double by Jason Coats. The lead grew to 5-2 on a Matt Carpenter solo home run in the fifth and then TCU pushed three runs across the plate in the seventh for an 8-2 lead, with Bryan Holaday driving in two with a home run to left.
UNLV had a great chance after the stretch to get back in the game, loading the bases with one out, bringing Thornton to the plate to face Tyler Lockwood, who had just come in from the TCU bullpen. Lockwood ended the threat, getting Thornton to ground into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.
Jesse Wight added a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth, the third solo shot of the game for the Rebels and his 10th of the year, and the Rebels added another run on an error to account for their runs. TCU got a solo home run in the top of the ninth off the bat of Matt Vern, the sixth round tripper of the game between the teams, for the game's final score. UNLV and TCU each had 10 hits, while the Rebels committed a pair of errors to the Horned Frogs one on the evening.
UNLV and TCU continue their series tomorrow, with the first pitch set for 7:00 p.m. (PT) at Earl E. Wilson Stadium, and the game will be carried live on 1400 KSHP AM. Saturday's home game will be Senior Day, and eight Rebel seniors will be honored before the game, which is slated to start at 12:00 p.m.
