May 22, 2010
Final Stats
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - UNLV baseball cut a deficit to one run late in the game but could not come all the back and avoid the sweep, losing to San Diego State 6-4 at Tony Gwynn Stadium in the Rebels' final game of the regular season.
The Rebels scored twice in the seventh inning to get within 5-4, but SDSU tacked on a run in the bottom of the frame to go on to the win. UNLV ended the regular season with a 27-27 overall record and 11-13 in the Mountain West Conference while SDSU moved to 28-26 and 13-11 in league games.
UNLV freshman R.J. Arnold singled home his team's first run of the game to tie the game at one in the top of the second, but the Aztecs score the game's next three runs to grab a lead it would not relinquish.
The Rebels used a pair of hit batters to put two men on base in the fifth and Jarred Frierson's double to right field score one, making the score 4-2. After SDSU scored a run to increase its lead back to three, UNLV plated two runs in the top of the seventh to close to within one. Robbie De La Cruz lead off the inning with a double and would eventually score on a throwing error, and Drew Beuerlein added a sacrifice fly in the frame that made it 5-4.
Following the stretch Cory Vaughn lead off with a solo home run and then a trio of Aztec relievers held the Rebels scoreless over the final two innings of the game. Matthew McDaniel (1-1) earned the win, allowing four runs on 10 hits in 7.1 innings of work while Brian Gilbertson (1-1) was charged with the loss after giving up four runs on 10 hits in four innings on the mound.
UNLV finished the game with 13 hits, with Frierson leading the way, as he collected three hits in five trips to the plate. San Diego State had 14 hits on the afternoon and committed a pair of errors.
The Rebels will be the fifth seed in the 2010 Conoco Mountain West Conference Baseball Championship, and they will be matched up with fourth-seeded BYU in the first game of the tournament, set for 3:00 p.m. (PT) on Tuesday from Tony Gwynn Stadium. The other first-round game will be No. 3 SDSU against No. 6 Utah at 7:00 p.m., while No. 1 TCU and No. 2 New Mexico have first-round byes.
For the fourth consecutive year, the entire Conoco Mountain West Conference Baseball Championship will be televised live on The Mtn.-MountainWest Sports Network. In addition to The Mtn.'s production, CBS College Sports Network will simulcast games all five days of the tournament. The combined reach of the two networks will make the championship available in 90 million homes nationwide.
