April 28, 2015 Final Stats
LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) -- UNLV baseball (20-23, 6-15 Mountain West) plated five runs in the final three innings to get past UC Riverside (13-29) on Tuesday at Earl E. Wilson Stadium.
The Highlanders took a 2-0 lead over the Rebels after scoring a run in the second and fifth innings.
UNLV responded in the seventh inning by plating four runs. Erik VanMeetren was hit by a pitch to open the frame and Dylan Ellis singled to third to give the Rebels runners at first and second. After an out, Morgan Stotts singled up the middle, driving in VanMeetren. A.J. VanMeetren followed up by blasting a 2-1 count over the 335 Club in right field for his first career home run, which gave UNLV a 4-2 lead.
The Highlanders battled back in the top half of the eighth, scoring two runs to tie the game.
The Rebels went down in order in the home half of the eighth and reliever Zack Hartman struck out the side on 13 pitches in the top of the ninth.
Stotts hit the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the ninth and moved to third after A.J. VanMeetren doubled down the right field line. UCR's defense shifted in order to prevent anything leaving the infield, but Austin Anderson singled to the shortstop, which scored Stotts, to end the game.
It is UNLV's fourth straight victory and the Rebels have now won nine one-run games this season.
A.J. VanMeetren finished 2-for-4 with a home run, a double, and drove in three runs to lead UNLV offensively. Stotts finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI and Anderson was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a walk.
Hartman (3-1) earned the win after allowing one hit in 2.0 innings of work. He recorded four strikeouts and one walk.
Corey Wilson made his first career start for the Rebels and pitched well, allowing one run on two hits with three strikeouts and no walks in 3.1 innings of work. Cody Roper, Zak Qualls, Bryan Bonnell, Jack Freedman and Christian Myers all pitched in relief.
UNLV will resume its schedule on Friday at 6:00 p.m. as it travels to take on Mountain West foe San Diego State. The Rebels and Aztecs will play a three-game series with the second and third games being played on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. and on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. The Saturday contest will be broadcast locally on Sports Radio 920 The Game.
