Box Score

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV baseball team (10-14 overall, 5-5 MW) suffered a 29-8 defeat to the New Mexico Lobos (13-9, 7-0 MW) Friday night the in first game of their Mountain West series at Earl E. Wilson Stadium. The game was tied at 1-all after the opening inning, but it quickly swung in the Lobos' favor when their offense erupted for 14 runs between the second and third.

UNM opened the scoring in the first with an RBI single from Jared Mang that plated Dan Collier, who had initially reached via a one-out walk issued by Rebel starter Alan Strong (3-1). It didn't take the Rebels long to answer back, as Kyle Isbel took a 1-1 offering from Lobo starter Tyler Stevens (3-2) over the fence in right field for a home run.

Mang aided his offense, once again, as he followed with a three-run home run in the second and a two-run triple in the third. In all, the 14-run swing came via eight runs in the second and six more in the third.

Mang and teammate Carl Stadjuhar proved to be adverse to Rebel pitching as they duo combined for an 8-for-12 performance at the plate with five of those hits going for extra bases. Mang led the team with six RBI to go along with two runs while Stajduhar had five RBI and five runs. Fellow Lobo Daniel Herrera also chipped in three hits, four RBI and three runs. UNM got multiple hits from seven different players and 10 players scored at least twice.

The teams matched each other run for run in the fourth and fifth frames. UNM scored twice in the fourth and once in the fifth. Justin Jones and Isbel were credited with RBI in the fourth off an RBI single and a sacrifice fly, respectively. Nick Rodriguez went the sac fly route an inning later.

After a scoreless sixth, the Lobos pushed across seven tallies in the seventh and four more in the eighth to lead 29-4.

The Rebels managed with four runs of their own in the bottom of the ninth off a pair of singles and a ground out. Vince Taormina started the scoring with a two-run base knock that brought home Cody Howard and Michael Macove after the duo led off with a single and a double, respectively. Ernie De La Trinidad and Jones came up in succession after a walk and a fielder's choice to provide an RBI groundout and an RBI single.

Jones paced the Rebels with a 3-for-5 effort at the plate that also provided two RBI and one run. Isbel and Taormina tied Jones for the team lead in RBI with two of their own.

Stevens earned the win in 6.0 innings of work. He struck out four and allowed four runs (three earned) off of seven hits. Cody Dye, who pitched 2.0 innings, and struck out one against two walks and one hit, relieved Stevens on the mound in the seventh. Brian Coffey pitched the ninth for UNM, but gave up four runs off of five hits.

Strong was tagged with the loss in his shorting outing of the season â€" 1.2 innings. He was touched for nine runs off of nine hits. He struck out two, but walked three. The Rebel bullpen tossed a total of 7.1 innings. Overall, UNLV used six different relievers, including outfielder Max Smith who pitched a scoreless ninth.

The Rebels will return to Las Vegas and Earl E. Wilson Stadium Saturday for game two of the Conference series with first pitch set for 6:05 pm. Sunday's finale is slated for a 1:05 pm start.

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: Squier and De La Trinidad extended their hitting streaks to 14 and 13 games, respectively, while Nick Ames is up to eight and Isbel is up to six … Squier also extended his reached-base streak to 24 … De La Trinidad pushed his reached-base streak to 17 while Ames' went to 12.