Box Score

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV baseball team (10-17, 4-8 Mountain West) rallied from a three-run deficit with four scores in the eighth to rally for a 6-5 victory over the New Mexico Lobos (19-9, 9-3) Sunday at Santa Ana Star Field. A pair of RBI singles by Cody Howard and Nick Rodriguez sparked the four-run outburst moments after the host Lobos had scored three in the seventh to snap a 2-all tie.

Rodriguez had a major role in the Scarlet & Gray's comeback win after he entered the affair as a pinch-hitter in the fourth. With the Rebels trailing by one in the seventh, Rodriguez laced a two-out triple and later scored off an RBI double by Payton Squier. In the eighth, he stepped up with two in scoring position and hit a two-run single through the left side of the infield that brought home the game-tying and go-ahead runs.

Following Rodriguez's run in the seventh, the Lobos loaded the bases against UNLV starter Kenny Oakley (3-3) with a single and two walks, the first of which was an intentional free pass. With one out, Jack Zoellner broke the 2-all stalemate with an RBI groundout. Scottie Graham put UNM ahead by a two runs, 5-2, with a two-run double.

The Rebels answered in the eighth against Lobo relievers Drew Bridges and Victor Sanchez. Yazdanbakhsh led off with a single against Bridges and then took second when the hurler uncorked a wild pitch. Bridges then walked Nick Ames and Cooper Esmay to load the bases, and subsequently end his participation in the game. UNM called upon Sanchez (0-3) to get out of the jam, but he wound up allowing the big, game-altering hits to Howard and Rodriguez before he induced a double play to end the stanza.

UNLV made its own call to the bullpen in the bottom of the eighth, and brought Ben Wright in to preserve the one-run lead. Wright allowed one runner to reach via a walk in his first frame of action, but gave up a pair of two-out singles in the ninth to add some suspense to the end of the game. The closer managed to catch the final batter, Reece Weber, looking for his second strikeout of the inning and third of the game.

Squier, Rodriguez, Corey Pool, Yazdanbakhsh and Howard had multiple-hit games for UNLV. Squier scattered three in the contest, while the other four had two each.

"The guys battled hard today," said head coach Stan Stolte. "They could have easily mailed it in. UNM is a very good team and this is an extremely hard place to win. Oakley and Wright were bulldogs on the mound, and offensively, we did enough to get the much needed win."

The Rebels opened the game's scoring with three consecutive singles from Esmay, Howard and Kyle Isbel â€" the last of which produced an RBI.

The Lobos scored a run in both the fourth and fifth innings with an RBI single by Scottie Graham and a solo home run by Luis Gonzalez, respectively.

Oakley picked up the win in 7.0 innings of work. He was touched for five runs (four earned) off of nine hits. He struck out two and walked two.

Wright tossed two scoreless frames for the save. He allowed two hits and walked one, but â€" as previously mentioned â€" he struck out three.

UNM's Colton Thomson went 6.0 innings and left the affair with the lead, but wound up with a no-decision. Thomson struck out nine against one run, seven hits and three walks. The trio of relievers that followed him did not fare as well, as they surrendered five runs off of eight hits in three innings. Sanchez was tagged with the loss after he was gave up one run off of four hits.

The Rebels stay out on the road and wrap up their four-game road swing through the American Southwest with a stop in Phoenix against Grand Canyon. UNLV and GCU are scheduled to square off at 3:00 pm at Brazell Stadium.

NOTES: Rodriguez's eight-inning RBI single was the fourth of the game-winning variety this season … Howard has scored the game-winning run twice this season, and he now shares the team lead with Vince Taormina … Isbel extended his season-best hitting streak to 11 games with help from his second-inning hit, and it ranks as the longest by a Rebel this season ahead of the 10-game run Squier amassed earlier this season … Isbel also has reached base in 11 straight games, which is the second-longest stretch by a Rebel this season, as Squier reached safely in 18 straight … Squier has a team-best 12 multiple-hit games; three have gone for three hits and one has been a four-hitter … Pool has hit safely in nine straight games … Wright's six saves are the most by a reliever since Brayden Torres had nine during the 2014 campaign … UNLV improved to 9-1 when it holds its opposition to five runs or less … UNLV improved to 3-5 when its offense scores six or more runs … UNLV notched its second win in 16 tries when it had trailed after seven innings … UNLV's offense has accumulated 10 or more hits in six of its last nine games, including 12 and 14 in games two and three, respectively, at New Mexico; it had only reached double digits in four of its first 18 contests.