May 2, 2010
Final Stats
LAS VEGAS - UNLV junior Drew Beuerlein hit a two-run home run to pace the offense in an 11-7 win over Air Force, helping the Rebels complete a three-game sweep on Sunday afternoon at Earl E. Wilson Stadium.
Beuerlein's dinger was his team-best eighth of the season and it capped a four-run sixth inning that gave the Rebels a six-run lead, and they would go on to the victory in improving to 24-19 overall and 8-7 in league games. Air Force is now 11-33 and 1-12 in the conference following the loss.
UNLV got on the board first, jumping out to a 2-0 lead in first when Beuerlein walked and then Brandon Bayardi doubled, putting runners on second and third for Kyle Kretchmer with two outs. Kretchmer hit a slow chopper to second that he beat out for an RBI, and Blair Roberts threw the ball away, allowing another run to score.
Air Force pushed a run across the plate in the top of the second before UNLV extended its lead to three runs, scoring twice in the fourth on a two-run single up the middle by Jarred Frierson. Another run by the Falcons in the sixth cut the margin to just two, but the Rebels responded with four runs in the bottom of the inning to an 8-2 lead. Freshman catcher Nolan Clark drove in two runs with a single, and then he came home on Beuerlein's shot over the right-field wall.
The teams traded runs over the last three innings, with Air Force scoring once in the seventh, twice in the eighth and then twice in the ninth, while the Rebels pushed two across the plate in the seventh and one in the eighth. UNLV's final run of the game was a solo home run by freshman Brandon Bayardi, who hit his sixth of the year in the bottom of the eighth.
Rebel starter Matt Hutchison took advantage of the run support to move his record on the year to 5-3, working six innings on the windy afternoon at Wilson Stadium. Hutchison gave up three runs on six hits, striking out five and walking two. Air Force starter Evan Abrecht (1-5) took the loss, allowing four runs on six hits in 4.1 innings on the mound.
UNLV finished the game with 15 hits, with Bayardi and Kretchmer each collecting three on the afternoon, while Air Force had 14 hits, including three by Matt Alexander.
The Rebels remain at home and welcome in another Mountain West Conference opponent, hosting BYU in a three-game series that gets underway Thursday at 7:00 p.m. (PT) at Earl E. Wilson Stadium.
