Box Score

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV baseball team (9-14) registered its second win over a nationally ranked opponent this season with Monday night's 8-5 triumph over the No. 22 Texas Tech Red Raiders (16-8) at Earl E. Wilson Stadium. The Rebels scattered a season-high 13 hits, including five from third baseman Kyle Isbel, and got scoreless relief from Corey Wilson and Ben Wright.

Isbel, a freshman from Fontana, Calif., recorded four singles and a triple, and, in turn, had a hand in six of UNLV's eight runs with four RBI and two runs scored. He knocked in one apiece in the second and fifth innings and two more in the seventh. He came around to score runs in the first and fourth.

Not only did the victory bring to a halt the Rebels' six-game losing streak, but it also cooled down the Red Raiders, which had won five straight and eight of their last nine outings.

"That was a much needed win," said head coach Stan Stolte. "It's not easy to beat a ranked team with four freshmen starting. Hopefully, we can build off of it. We still walked too many and had a couple of errors, but it was great to beat a quality team like Texas Tech. Corey Wilson's three solid innings out of the bullpen was the difference for us tonight."

Moments after Texas Tech pushed out to their third one-run lead of the contest in the top of the fifth, the Scarlet & Gray countered with two runs in the the frame for a lead it would never relinquish. Justin Jones led off with a triple down the right-field line and scored one batter latter off an RBI grounder by Vince Taormina, who found himself standing on second after Tech second baseman Michael Davis threw wildly to first base for the would-be out. The Rebels wound up getting a single by Nick Rodriguez to put runners on the corners and another single by Isbel that produced the go-ahead run.

UNLV upped its lead to three in the seventh off Isbel's triple that bounded to the fence in right-field foul territory. Nick Ames and Cody Howard scored on the hit after they initially reached via a six-pitch walk and a single, respectively.

Wilson (1-2) and Wright (5) combined to throw 4.1 innings and neither was charged with a run. Wilson was credited with the win after he entered the affair in the top of the fifth and went 3.1 frames, struck out four and allowed three hits. Wright earned his fifth save of the season after he struck out two against one hit and one walk in the ninth.

UNLV opened the game with back-to-back singles by Isbel and Anderson, the second of which put runners on the corners after the former went from first to third on the hit. A groundout by Payton Squier and a double by Corey Pool produced the first two runs and RBI of the tilt.

Texas Tech rallied an inning later with three runs off of two hits. UNLV starter Ryan Hare walked the first two batters he faced in the stanza and both came back to haunt him, as the Red Raiders got an RBI single from Tyler Neslony and a two-run single from Ryan Long for three quick tallies.

The Rebels pulled even in the bottom of the second with an RBI single by Isbel. Rodriguez scored on the hit after he had worked his way into scoring position with a single that had a fielding error tacked onto it and a wild pitch.

Neslony pushed his Red Raiders back ahead by one run, 4-3, in the third with a sac fly; however another RBI single by Pool drew the affair even at 4-all in the fourth.

The visitors from Lubbock notched their third and final lead, 5-4, with a solo tally in the fifth. Hare walked two of the four batters he faced in the frame, and with two on and Wilson replaced him. Tech wound up getting an RBI single by Long to break the stalemate, but Wilson got out of the inning with a fly out.

Hare went 4.2 innings in his start and was tabbed with a no-decision. He struck out six against six walks, five runs (four earned) and three hits.

The Red Raiders started Erickson Lanning and he went 4.0 inning with four strikeouts; however, UNLV roughed him up for four runs off of eight hits and three walks. Lanning handed the ball off to teammate Ryan Shetter (2-1), but he, too, allowed four runs (three earned) off of five hits in 4.0 innings of relief. Shetter struck out three and walked one.

UNLV and Texas Tech resume this brief two-game series Tuesday at 1:05 pm. The game is billed as $2 Tuesday and fans can purchase specially priced tickets for $2 online and in-advance (by 10:00 am) at UNLVTickets.com. In addition, hot dogs and sodas are priced at $2 and ice cold beer will be discounted by $2.

NOTES: Isbel becomes the second Rebel to notch a perfect 5-for-5 outing with four RBI this season, as he joins teammate Nick Ames who did the same against Ohio State on March 15 … Both Isbel and Ames are freshmen … With the win, UNLV improved to 8-1 when it holds its opposition to five runs or less … Monday's win is just the second for UNLV this season â€" in six tries â€" when it scores between 6-9 runs … The eight runs scored are tied for the season high with the team's output of eight versus Ohio State (March 13) and Grand Canyon (March 22) … UNLV's eight RBI and 19 total bases are the most by a team in a game this season … UNLV has notched double-digit hit totals in three straight games and in four of its last five outings after it had done so only four times in the first 18 games.