May 16, 2009
Final Stats
LAS VEGAS - UNLV baseball closed out its regular season Saturday afternoon, losing to No. 14 TCU by a score of 10-3 in the final of a three-game Mountain West Conference series at Earl E. Wilson Stadium.
Before the game eight Rebel seniors who were playing in their final home game were honored, and they were Marc Baca, Joe DiMaggio, Corey Hales, Anthony Morel, Bryan Resnick, J.J. Sferra, Ryan Thornton and Jesse Wight.
The Horned Frogs were not kind guests, though, scoring the game's first four runs and they did not look back in completing the sweep of the Rebels, who wrapped up the regular season with a 26-30 overall record, 9-15 in league play. TCU improved to 35-14 overall and 15-5 in the MWC to win a third consecutive regular season title and earn the top seed at next week's league tournament, which will be in Fort Worth, Texas.
Corey Steglich hit a two-run home run in the top of the third to put TCU on the board, and then the Horned Frogs used back-to-back doubles and then a sacrifice fly to push two more across the plate in the fourth for a 4-0 lead.
UNLV scored a run in the bottom of the inning on an RBI double by Thornton and they threatened for more, loading the bases with two outs against TCU starter Kyle Winkler on a walk and a hit batter. That brought Bryan Resick to the plate but the senior second baseman struck out looking to end the inning.
TCU got that run back in the top of the fifth on a solo home run by Aaron Schulz and the Horned Frogs tacked on a pair of runs in the top of the seventh to extend the lead to 7-1. The Rebels got their final run of the game in the bottom of the sixth when Wight hit a triple to right that scored Morel, making it a 7-2 ball game. The Horned Frogs score three more times in the top of the ninth and then UNLV got a run in the bottom half on a Resnick single that scored Kyle Kretchmer, who had hit his first career triple earlier in the inning.
The Rebels finished with eight hits on the afternoon, with Sferra picking up two hits and a run to pace the lineup. TCU collected 10 hits, three of them by Matt Carpenter, while Steglich drove in three and scored twice.
UNLV will be the fifth seed in next week's MWC Tournament and they will open up against fourth-seeded San Diego State, with the first pitch set for 5:00 p.m. (PT) on Tuesday afternoon from Lupton Stadium. The game is scheduled to be carried live on KSHP 1400 AM radio.
