FRESNO, Calif. (UNLVRebels.com) - UNLV baseball (6-3, 0-1 Mountain West) dropped the opening game of a three-game series against Fresno State (4-6, 1-4 MW) 10-5 on Friday at Pete Beiden Field.
The Bulldogs took a 6-0 lead after plating four runs in the first inning and two more in the second. Fresno State added another run in the fifth before the Rebels got on the board.
In the sixth inning,
Payton Squier led off the inning with a single to right field. He advanced to second on a wild pitch and to third after
Justin Jones flied out to center field. Squier would then plate the first UNLV run of the game after
Joey Armstrong singled to the Bulldog's shortstop. Armstrong would score from first two batters later when
Erik VanMeetren hit a two out double to left field.
Fresno State answered by scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh.
The Rebels best inning offensively came in the eighth inning when they plated three runs. Jones opened the frame with a walk and moved to third two batters later when
Morgan Stotts hit a double to left field. VanMeetren cleared the bases by hitting a triple to right field and would later score on a wild pitch.
The Bulldogs capped the scoring by plating one run in the bottom of the eighth.
Fresno State's starter Jimmy Lambert (1-0) earned the win and held UNLV batters in check, as the Rebels didn't record their first hit of the game until the fifth inning. As a team, UNLV finished with seven hits.
VanMeetren led the Rebels from the plate, finishing 2-for-4 with three RBI, a double, triple and scored a run.
UNLV's
Bryan Bonnell (1-1) took the loss after allowing six runs on four hits in 1.2 innings of work.
Cody Roper,
Corey Wilson,
Christian Myers and
Jack Freedman all made relief appearances for the Rebels.
The two teams are scheduled to meet of the second game of the three game set on Saturday at 6:35 p.m. PT. UNLV's sophomore
D.J. Myers (2-0, 0.61 ERA) is projected to get the start, while the Bulldogs are slated to send junior Dylan Lee (0-1, 14.14 ERA) to the bump.
The game will be shown online through the Mountain West Network and Rebel fans can watch the game at UNLVRebels.com/videos.
