May 15, 2009

Final Stats

LAS VEGAS - Runs were easy to come by Friday night, but a difficult third inning did in UNLV in a 14-10 loss to No. 14 TCU at Earl E. Wilson Stadium in a game that featured 15 extra-base hits and five home runs.

The Rebels jumped out to an early 4-0 lead but the Horned Frogs scored nine runs in the top of the third, and although the two teams would go on to score another 11 runs, UNLV wasn't able to come all the way back. UNLV is now 26-29 on the year and 9-14 in the Mountain West Conference while TCU improved to 34-14, 14-5, and the Horned Frogs clinched their third straight regular season crown.

A quick start was in the cards again for UNLV, which scored three runs in the bottom of the first to move out in front, the big hit in the rally a two-run double by Anthony Morel to right center. The Rebels added another run in the bottom of the second on Jarred Frierson's RBI triple to the game in right center that scored J.J. Sferra.

Things unraveled in the top of the third, however, when TCU sent 15 batters to the plate on seven hits, four walks and a hit batter which lead to nine runs and chased Beresford. Five of the runs came via the long ball, as Casey Steglich hit a two-run home run to left and the final three came on a round tripper, also to left, off the bat of Aaron Schultz, which finished the dramatic turnaround in the game.

Despite suddenly facing a five-run deficit after once having a four-run lead, the Rebels would not roll over and chipped away at the lead, trading runs with TCU over the next two innings before closing the gap to two in the sixth. UNLV got three runs in the bottom of the sixth, all of them unearned due to a pair of Horned Frog errors, as Jesse Wight tripled in a run and then scored on a throwing error, and then later in the inning Kyle Kretchmer hit a solo home run to right field.

But that would be as close as UNLV would get in the game, as TCU responded with two runs in the seventh on a two-run home run by Matt Vern to push the lead back to four, and then the two teams traded runs in the eighth. The bottom of the eighth though was an inning that could have produced more runs that it did for the Rebels.

In the bottom of the eighth the Rebels scored a run on an RBI single by Trent Fuller, and then they would load the bases with one out, bringing Sferra to the plate with the Rebels trailing 14-10. Sferra fouled out on the first pitch he saw from TCU closer Eric Marshall, who then got Frierson to ground out to short to get out of the jam.

Despite the fact the Rebels scored 10 runs on the night, there were chances for even more as they left 14 runners on base, including at least one in each inning tonight. TCU left nine runners of its own on base and also committed five errors to just one by the Rebels. Wight finished the game with four hits to pace the UNLV offense while Bryan Resnick also went deep for the Rebels, his seventh of the year.

UNLV and TCU wrap up their series tomorrow, with the first pitch set for 12:00 p.m. (PT) at Earl E. Wilson Stadium, and eight Rebel seniors will be honored before the game.