May 8, 2010

Final Stats

LAS VEGAS - UNLV baseball dug itself a deep hole and could not come back, dropping the final of a three-game series to visiting BYU by the score of 16-7 on Saturday afternoon at Earl E. Wilson Stadium.

The Cougars jumped out to a 12-1 lead, scoring five runs in the first inning and chasing Rebel starter Stephen Singer (1-6) after just one out, and then BYU tacked on seven more in the second. The early deficit would prove to be too much for the Rebels to overcome, as they dropped to 26-20 overall and 10-8 in league games. BYU improved to 20-25 and 7-11 in the conference, with Matt Neil (4-4) taking advantage of the run support to earn the win.

During the 12-run blitz BYU hit a trio of home runs, the last of which was a grand slam off the bat of Jonathan Cluff that capped the barrage of runs.

UNLV put up a crooked number of its own, sending 10 batters to the plate and scoring five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. The rally was highlighted by a pair of two-run home runs, with Jarred Frierson and Kyle Kretchmer connecting on the round trippers. Frierson then led off the sixth with a solo shot to center for his second multi home run game of the season, cutting the deficit to 12-7.

BYU would score the game's last four runs, scoring three in the seventh and then another in the eighth to keep the Rebels from earning the series sweep and stopping their winning streak at five.

With the wind picking up near the end of the game, the teams combined to hit seven home runs, four from BYU and three from UNLV on the day. The Rebels had 13 hits on the afternoon, with Frierson adding a single to go with his two home runs, while the Cougars collected 17 hits, with Sean McNaughton hitting a pair of home runs and driving in four.

UNLV now hits the road for a non-conference game with UC Riverside on Tuesday, with the first pitch set for 6:00 p.m. (PT).