Final Stats

COLUMBUS, Ohio (UNLVRebels.com) -- UNLV baseball (15-19) won its series over Ohio State (23-9) after defeating the Buckeyes 7-4 on Sunday at Bill Davis Stadium.

Each team's starting pitcher got off to a great start, as the Rebels' Blaze Bohall and OSU's Ryan Riga each tossed four scoreless innings to open the game.

UNLV's offense came alive in the top of the fifth inning when the Rebels exploded for five runs on four hits and took advantage of a Buckeye error.

Cody Howard recorded his first hit in nearly two years after recovering from a knee injury to give UNLV a 1-out base runner. Howard moved to third two batters later when Joey Armstrong hit a fielder's choice to the shortstop. Armstrong proceeded to steal second base and both Howard and Armstrong scored when Payton Squier singled to right field. Erik VanMeetren was then hit by a pitch and Dylan Ellis followed with a single that ricocheted off the third basemen's glove, scoring Squier from second. VanMeetren also scored on the play and Ellis moved to third on an error by the Buckeyes. Edgar Montes singled to center field, driving in Ellis, which concluded UNLV's scoring in the frame.

Ohio State got one run back in the home half of the fifth, but the Rebels extended their lead to 7-1 when Armstrong hit a two-run home run, which was his homer of the season.

The Buckeyes plated another run in the sixth and two more in the eighth. In the bottom of the ninth inning, OSU loaded the bases with one out to make the game interesting, but Brayden Torres shut the door on the Buckeyes by striking out their cleanup hitter and inducing a pop-out to end the game.

Bohall (4-2) earned the win after picking up his third quality start of the year. He allowed two runs on eight hits while striking out five batters, which matched his career-high, and did not walk a batter in 6.0 innings of work. Bryan Bonnell and Matt Thomas each made relief appearances and Torres picked up his second save of the year. Torres held OSU scoreless over 1.2 innings and struck out three while allowing one free pass.

Ellis led UNLV offensively, going 3-for-4 in the game. He also recorded an RBI and scored a run. Armstrong also finished the game with multiple hits, going 2-for-5 with two RBI, two runs and stole his fifth base of the year.

The Rebels will continue to play on the road as they will travel to Loyola Marymount on Tuesday. First pitch is slated for 6:00 p.m. PT. UNLV will return home and will resume Mountain West play on Friday as it hosts New Mexico.