May 9, 2009

Final Stats

PROVO, Utah - UNLV baseball scored five runs in the top of the ninth to tie the game but BYU pushed the game-winning run across the plate in the bottom of the frame to earn a 14-13 win on Saturday afternoon at Larry H. Miller Field.

The Rebels trailed by five and were down to their final out but rallied to knot the score, the big hit in the inning a two-out double by Kyle Kretchmer with the bases loaded that scored three and gave his team new life. BYU countered, however, getting its own two-out hit when Kent Walton laced an RBI single to left, lifting his team to the victory.

UNLV is now 25-27 overall and 9-12 in the Mountain West Conference, and the Rebels have lost four in a row, including their three games in Provo in the last conference road trip for the team. Tanner Peters (5-6), who pitched the opener of the series Thursday night, came on to try and close it out in the ninth but could not get the final three outs and took the loss.

It was a back-and-forth, high-scoring affair as both teams put together big innings and scored often, beginning in a first inning that saw the Rebels score twice on RBI singles, followed by three Cougar runs. UNLV tacked on four more runs in the top of the third, as Jesse Wight opened the frame with a solo home run and Chad Claus hit a two-run single and then also scored on a balk.

After the Cougars cut the lead to one with two runs in the bottom half of the third, UNLV scored twice in the top of the fourth on an RBI single by Wight and then a sacrifice fly off the bat of Anthony Morel for an 8-5 lead.

The bats went cold as UNLV was kept off the board until the dramatic ninth inning, and the Cougars took advantage.

BYU tied the game in the bottom of the fifth with three runs, two of which came on a home run by Michael Bowen, and then the Cougars moved out in front with another three in the sixth, good for an 11-8 lead. Two more runs for BYU came across the plate after the stretch for a 13-8 advantage, and BYU looked to be in great shape after closer Jordan Muir came in and quickly got two outs.

But the Rebels would not roll over and picked up five straight singles off of Muir to score the first two runs, bringing Kretchmer to the plate with the bases loaded, and the big lefty delivered with a double to left field. That tied the game and then the Rebels loaded the bases again on a walk and hit batter, bringing Ryan Thornton to the plate with a chance to put his team back out in front.

BYU brought in Kevin Sloan out of the pen, the third pitcher of the inning, and he got Thornton to fly out to left on a 1-1 count to get the Cougars out of the inning and give Walton a chance to win the game. BYU improved to 27-21 and 14-8 in league play while Sloan (1-0) earned his first victory of the season.

UNLV had 15 hits in the game, paced by Wight who went 4-for-5 with four runs scored and three RBI, and Scott Berke contributed three hits and two RBI as well. BYU had 17 hits on the afternoon, led by Bowen, who drove in six runs and had three hits.

UNLV will now wrap up its non-conference schedule with a game at UC Riverside on Tuesday, and the first pitch between the Rebels and the Highlanders is slated for 6:00 p.m. (PT).