March 6, 2010

Final Stats

LAS VEGAS - UNLV baseball used an incredible rally in the eighth inning to complete a doubleheader sweep of Columbia on Saturday at Earl E. Wilson Stadium, as the Rebels scored eight runs in the eighth inning in game two.

UNLV freshman R.J. Arnold went 5-for-5 at the plate and drove in three runs to pace his team to an 11-4 victory in game one, and then after the Rebels' dramatic eighth, they scored the winning run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth for a 13-12 win. The Rebels are now 10-3 on the year while the Lions dropped to 0-3 overall, with game two finishing up right before rain started falling.

Arnold singled in the Rebels' first run in the second inning of game one, which tied the game at one and started off a big day at the plate for the freshman third baseman. Arnold drove in a run in the third inning with a single, and his single in the seventh inning brought home another run, and that was part of a four-run inning which put the game away.

Robbie De La Cruz, Cash Thomas and Hunter Beaty each had three hits in game one for the Rebels, who finished the game with 21 hits, two of which came off the bat of Brandon Bayardi, who extended his hitting streak to 12 games. Bayardi's streak would come to an end later in the evening, as he went 0-for-4 in the second game.

UNLV starter Billy Wardell (1-0) earned his first career victory, allowing three runs on six hits in six innings of work, striking out two and walking three. Thomas Whitsett and Sam Friend worked the final three innings of game one, with Friend making his first career appearance on the mound for the Rebels.

Columbia starter Dan Bracey (0-1) took the loss, allowing seven runs on 14 hits in 6.2 innings of work, while the Lions finished the game with eight hits.

Game two looked like it was going to end with the Lions' first win of the season, but the Rebels had other ideas.

After UNLV had tied the game in the eighth, Cash Thomas drew a one-out walk off of Clay Bartlett, who then threw wild to first on a pick off, allowing Thomas to move up to second. Jarred Frierson grounded out to second, and with Drew Beuerlein coming to the plate, Bartlett went to issue an intentional walk. After throwing the first ball a bit wide of home plate, Bartlett uncorked a wild pitch that went to the backstop, allowing Thomas to trot home with the winning run.

Brady Zuniga (2-0) was stellar in relief, allowing two runs on five hits in 5.1 innings of work to earn the victory, while Bartlett (0-1) was charged with the loss.

UNLV jumped out to a 2-1 lead after one inning, but Columbia scored six runs in the second and five in the fourth for a 12-4 lead after four innings of play. The Rebels lost their starting pitcher early, as Andrew Beresford left the game in the second inning with an arm injury.

Rebel senior Kyle Kretchmer drilled a two-run home run to center field in the third inning and then pinch-hitter Brian Gilbertson laced a two-run double down the left-field line in the bottom of the eighth that cut the lead to 12-6 and was a start of a big rally. The Rebels would score eight runs in the frame, five of them unearned to come back and tie the game at 12 off of Columbia reliever Eric Williams. Hunter Beaty hit a two-run triple that tied the game, and he came in to score on a single to right field off the bat of Arnold.

Beuerlein and Kretchmer each had three hits and UNLV collected 15 hits on the evening, and scored a total of six unearned runs on the night.

UNLV and Columbia close their four-game series on Sunday, with the first pitch at Wilson Stadium scheduled for 1:00 p.m. (PT).