April 11, 2010
Final Stats
SALT LAKE CITY - UNLV senior right-hander Matt Hutchison delivered the pitching staff's second complete-game effort in three games, leading the Rebels to a 4-1 victory and a three-game sweep of Utah on Sunday afternoon at Spring Mobile Stadium.
Hutchison, who opened the season as the Rebels' closer, went the distance, giving up just one run on five hits over nine sharp innings. He struck out four and walked just one batter, and after allowing a first-inning run, Hutchison allowed just four base runners to get as far as second base the rest of the afternoon. Hutchison's gem followed Tanner Peters' complete-game shutout of the Utes in the series opener on Friday night, a 6-0 UNLV win.
Sunday's victory moved the Rebels to 20-13 on the year and 5-4 in Mountain West Conference games, with Hutchison improving to 4-1 on the year. Utah is now 16-13 overall and 5-4 in league play also, with Bryn Card (2-2) taking the loss, as he gave up three runs on six hits in 7.1 innings of work.
UNLV scored twice in the first inning to take a 2-0 lead before Hutchison even took the mound, and the Palmdale, Calif., native made sure that was all the run support he would need.
With one out in the top of the first Jarred Frierson reached on an error and Drew Beuerlein drew a walk, bringing Brandon Bayardi to the plate, and the freshman drove them both home with a double to center field. Utah pushed a run across the plate in the bottom half of the frame on a sacrifice fly, but that would be all the offense the Utes would get.
Hutchison set down the Utes in order in three of the next four innings, and it was not until the seventh that the UNLV starter even allowed two base runners to reach, which Utah was able to do over the final three innings. But each time Hutchison was able to get out of the inning without allowing a run.
The Rebels tacked on two more runs as insurance in the top of the eighth, with Beuerlein hitting an RBI double followed by Bayardi lacing a run-scoring triple that gave his team a 4-1 lead. Bayardi finished the game with three of UNLV's eight hits. The two complete games in the series marks the first time since the 2007 season that the Rebel pitching staff has had at least two complete games in a season.
UNLV continues it 10-game road trip with a non-conference matchup with Southern Utah on Tuesday afternoon in Cedar City, with the first pitch of the game set for 2:00 p.m. (PT).
