April 17, 2014
Final Stats
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (UNLVRebels.com) - No. 16/20 UNLV baseball (25-13/13-6 Mountain West) dropped its series opener 10-9 to Air Force (12-25/3-13 MW) on Thursday.
The Rebels took a 6-2 lead over the Falcons after four innings, but two costly UNLV errors allowed Air Force to plate five unearned runs in the bottom of the fifth to capture the lead.
The Falcons extended their lead by scoring two more runs in the bottom of the seventh. The Rebels got back on the board in the top of the eighth by scoring a run, but Air Force answered that with another run in the home half of the inning.
UNLV rallied in the ninth inning scoring two runs with one out. The rally started when T.J. White singled and Patrick Armstrong hit a triple to drive him in. Armstrong would score two pitches later when Erik VanMeetren grounded out to the shortstop.
After another ground out to shortstop, the Rebels had the tying run aboard when Edgar Montes singled to right field. The Falcons cut the Rebels' rally short, inducing a third ground out to the shortstop to end the game.
Erick Fedde (7-2) was saddled with the loss after allowing seven runs, two of which were earned, on eight hits and struck out six in 6.0 innings of work. Despite taking the loss, Fedde earned his 10th consecutive quality start, 11th dating back to last year, which leads the country.
Justin Jones and T.J. White lead the UNLV attack from the plate, as they both finished 3-for-5 on the day. Jones also drove in a team-high three RBI, while White and Morgan Stotts scored a team-high two runs. Stotts (2-for-5), Joey Swanner (2-for-5), Joey Armstrong (2-for-5) and Edgar Montes (2-for-5) also finished the game with multiple hits.
UNLV and Air Force will play game two of the three game series on Friday at 3:00 p.m. MT/2:00 p.m. PT. John Richy (6-2, 2.55 ERA) will get the nod for the Rebels, while Griffin Jax (2-6, 5.62 ERA) is slated to go for the Falcons. Fans can watch the action unfold live on UNLVRebels.com, thanks to the Mountain West Network.
