May 14, 2010
Final Stats
FORT COLLINS, Colo. - The UNLV Rebels (32-20 overall, 9-5 MWC) scored nine unanswered runs after falling behind by three in their 9-4 victory of the Colorado State Rams (29-19, 7-7 MWC) Friday afternoon in cold and windy conditions at Ram Field in Fort Collins, Colo. UNLV's rally was sparked by a three-run home run by Marissa Nichols, who wound up with four RBI on the day, while Laura Briones and Alyssia De La Torre had two apiece. Jessica O'Connor held the Ram offense in-check with 4.2 innings of effective relief, as she picked up her 12th win of the year.
Trailing by a 3-0 margin, UNLV's offense awoke in the fourth inning when Nichols cranked her team-leading 12th home run. Jaci Hull and Kendall Fearn led off the inning with a single and a hit-by-pitch, respectively. Laura King, who was pinch-running for Fearn, scored on the play.
The Rebels added two more runs in the fifth to increase their lead. Paige Emerson led off with an infield single before Hull was walked. Nichols then added her fourth RBI of the day with a single to center to plate Emerson from second. Briones immediately followed with an RBI of her own with a double to center that pushed the lead to two runs.
UNLV closed out its nine-run effort with four more tallies in the seventh off of four hits and one Ram error. Emerson was the igniter of another offensive inning when she led off the stanza with her second infield single of the game. Nichols joined Emerson on the base path after being hit by a pitch, which brought Amber Petersen into the game as a pinch-runner. Briones then smashed her second RBI-double of the contest that brought Emerson to score. With runners in scoring position, De La Torre hit a two-run double to left-center to plate Petersen and Briones. The consecutive doubles by Briones and De La Torre ended the day for Kell Eubanks's (23-12) day in the circle. Kelsey Jo O'Brien came into the game, but the first batter she faced wound up reaching on a throwing error that allowed De La Torre to score from second.
The Rams struck first with three runs off of three extra-base hits. Caitlan Stem led off the bottom half of the opening frame with a double to left-center that extended her hitting streak to 12 games. Stem moved over to third on a groundout and then scored when Christine Thomsen nailed a double to deep center. Allison Majam stepped up two batters later and cranked a home run to center that just barely cleared the fence.
The Rebels withstood two more offensive efforts by the home team in the second and third innings. CSU loaded the bases in the second with only one out, but watched as Kylie Wagner got the next two outs to end the threat. In the third, the Rams has two on when Sarah Sullivan smashed a fly ball to deep center that Emerson kept inside the playing field from becoming a possible home run.
CSU managed to score its fourth run of the game in the seventh when Ashley Munoz cranked a solo shot to center.
O'Connor moved to 12-4 on the year with the relief win. She allowed one run on five hits, while striking out three and walking two.
Wagner earned a no-decision on the day in 2.1 innings of a start. She was touched for three runs on five hits with two strikeouts and two walks apiece.
Eubanks earned the loss in 6.2 innings tossed. She gave up nine runs (eight earned) on 11 hits. She struck out two and walked one.
O'Brien faced three batters to end the contest and allowed one hit before getting an out to end the seventh.
UNLV is back in action Saturday, May 15 at 12:00 pm MT (11:00 am PT), when they face the Colorado State Rams in Fort Collins
