May 7, 2010
Final Stats
LAS VEGAS - With the bases loaded and one out, UNLV catcher Nolan Clark hit a sharp grounder that BYU second baseman Dane Nielsen bobbled, allowing Drew Beuerlein to come home with the winning run for a 9-8 Rebel win Friday evening at Earl E. Wilson Stadium.
The bottom of the 11th inning opened with Beuerlein and Brandon Bayardi drawing back-to-back walks, and then BYU brought in Kevin Sloan to face left-handed hitting Duncan Satherlie of the Rebels. Satherlie laid down a sacrifice bunt and then Sloan intentionally walked R.J. Arnold, loading the bases but setting up the possible double play. On a full count Sloan got the ground ball he was looking for, but Nielsen could not come up cleanly with the ball, although it would be been hard to turn the double play with the runners going on the pitch.
UNLV is now 26-19 overall and 10-7 in Mountain West Conference games after winning their fifth in a row, and Glenn DeWeese picked up the win, working three innings of relief to move to 2-2. BYU is now 19-25 overall and 6-11 in conference games, and Devin Brewer (0-2) took the loss after he walked the only two batters he faced in the 11th.
It was the Cougars who had the early advantage, scoring the game's first three runs, tallying one in the first and then two more in the second inning for a 3-0 lead.
UNLV cut the margin to just one run in the bottom of the third, scoring a pair of runs in the frame to make it 3-2. Hunter Beaty led off the inning with a walk and wheeled all the way around to score on Jarred Frierson's triple to left field for the Rebels' first run. Frierson then came home on a RBI ground out by Bayardi.
After the Cougar offense gave him a three-run lead again in the top of the fourth on a pair of run-scoring hits, Capper settled in, giving up just one hit over the next four innings before running into trouble in the eighth.
The Rebels loaded the bases with no outs on a single by Frierson, a hit batter and an error, bringing Kyle Kretchmer to the plate, and the senior hit a slow roller to first base for a single that moved everyone up 90 feet. Arnold followed with a sharp single up the middle that scored two runs, knotting the game at five and ending Capper's night without him getting an out in the eighth.
UNLV then took its first lead of the game a batter later, as Cash Thomas hit a ground ball to third that Austin Hall threw errantly to first, allowing Adam Koglin to race home and score on the play, giving the Rebels a 6-5 lead.
BYU wasted no time in tying the game at six, as Brandon Relf led off the top of the ninth with a triple to the right-center gap and then scored on a throwing error by Beaty on the relay from the outfield. DeWeese then came in and kept the game tied, setting down the next three batters in order to get his team to the bottom of the ninth.
The two teams traded runs in the 10th, with Hall and Relf lacing RBI singles for the Cougars while UNLV countered with a sacrifice fly from Thomas and an RBI single from Frierson with two outs and runners on the corners.
UNLV was out hit by a 15-10 margin, but took advantage of eight walks and four Cougar errors that resulted in five unearned runs for the Rebels. Frierson had a strong night at the plate, collecting three hits in six trips to the plate, to go along with two RBI and a pair of runs scored. Relf finished the game with four hits for BYU.
UNLV and BYU wrap up their series Saturday, with the first pitch at Earl E. Wilson Stadium set for 1:00 p.m. (PT) and the Rebels will send Stephen Singer to the mound while the Cougars will counter with Matt Neil.
