Box Score

SAN DIEGO (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV baseball team (10-9, 5-2 MW) jumped out to a 5-0 lead and held on for a two-run win, 5-3, over the San Diego State Aztecs (11-7, 2-2 MW) Friday night at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The Rebels scored three runs in their first at-bat and added two more in the fourth while the pitching staff limited the Aztecs to three runs off of eight hits.

The Scarlet & Gray was paced by two hits from Kyle Isbel and Keyon Allen. The former as well as Bryson Stott and Justin Jones registered one RBI and one run apiece in the victory. The Rebels also got RBI from Allen and Nick Ames and runs from Payton Squier and Ernie De La Trinidad.

Isbel led off the game with a single off of SDSU starter Brett Seeburger (3-1), and then scored off a double to right from Stott. Squier and Ames followed with back-to-back singles, the second of which brought home Stott. Jones stepped up three batters after Ames and lifted a sacrifice fly to left to plate Squier.

In the fourth, Allen and Isbel upped UNLV's lead to five with consecutive RBI singles. De La Trinidad and Jones scored on the run-scoring hits after the pair led off the inning with singles.

SDSU answered back in its half of the fourth by scoring once off a fielder's choice by Tyler Adkison that allowed Jordan Verdon, who had initially walked, to score.

The Aztecs managed to score single tallies in the seventh and eighth innings to pull within two, 5-3.

UNLV starter Alan Strong (3-0) earned his third win of the season in 5.2 innings of work. Strong, who struck out four, allowed one run off of four hits and three walks. He allowed nine Aztecs to reach base; however, only one scored while one was forced out and seven were stranded.

The Rebel bullpen tossed the final 3.3 frames to preserve the win. Tevita Gerber, Blaze Bohall, Andrew Schultz and Bryan Menendez combined to allow two runs (one earned) off of three hits.

Menendez earned his second save of the year after throwing 1.1 innings of relief. He allowed one hit, a one-out single in the ninth, but it only turned into a game-ending double play.

The Rebels and Aztecs resume their Mountain West series at Tony Gwynn Stadium Saturday afternoon at 1:00 pm. Game three is scheduled for Sunday, also at 1:00 pm.

After a two-game, midweek set (March 21-22) in Lubbock, Texas, against the No. 4 Texas Tech Red Raiders, UNLV will return to Las Vegas and Earl E. Wilson Stadium for a three-game, MW series against New Mexico next weekend, March 24-26.

Tickets can be purchased online and in-advance for $5 at UNLVTickets.com. Tickets purchased at the gate are $8 for adults, $6 for senior/faculty/staff, while kids 12 and under as well as UNLV students are free of charge.

NOTES: UNLV's win snapped a three-game losing streak to SDSU … UNLV improved to 9-3 when leading after six innings as well as 7-0 when leading after both the seventh and eighth … Friday's win marked the second straight UNLV has won when scoring five runs; the Rebels are now 2-7 when scoring five or less … UNLV improved to 8-2 when it holds its opponents to five or less … UNLV is now 6-5 when it scores first … Friday's win is the first that UNLV has won this season by a margin of two runs, and the team is 1-2 in these games … Stott has hit safely in 18 of UNLV's 19 games this season â€" 12 of which have been multiple-hit affairs, and is on a seven-game hitting streak … Squier and De La Trinidad extended their hitting streaks to nine and eight, respectively … Two Rebels â€" Stott and Squier â€" have all reached base safely in all 19 contests while Isbel has reached safely in 18 of 19 and De La Trinidad has in the last 12.