Box Score

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV baseball team (10-16 overall, 5-7 MW) was handed a 7-3 setback to the New Mexico Lobos (15-9, 9-0 MW) at Earl E. Wilson Stadium Sunday afternoon. The Rebels fell behind by three after the first inning of play and were never able to recover from the early deficit despite outhitting the Lobos 13-7 in the contest.

The Scarlet & Gray had multiple-hit outings from Payton Squier, Ernie De La Trinidad, Nick Ames and Vince Taormina. The foursome combined for an 11-for-18 performance at the plate, which equated to a .611 batting average. Squier led the quartet with four hits, one of which went for two bases, while De La Trinidad scattered three, Ames and Taormina scattered two apiece.

Unfortunately, the Rebels' 13 hits did not translate to runs as 10 base runners were left stranded in the affair and six of those were in scoring position. They left one runner at second base in the first three stanzas as well as the ninth and two at third (fifth and sixth). UNM; meanwhile, only left four on during the game.

"We have to learn and believe in what it takes to win," said head coach Stan Stolte. "Our execution on offense is not good enough. The number of hits we get is an irrelevant stat if you do not have good situational hitting. We make errors in key shutdown innings and our pitchers can't execute key pitches. Those are both fixable things, but against the talent level we've faced the past eight games, it has to be done or we have no shot. It doesn't get any easier for us; we just have to man up and get it done as a team."

UNM got its offense started early with help from a two-out, three-run home run from Jack Zoellner. The bases-clearing hit plated teammates Luis Gonzalez and Jared Mang, who had initially reached when they were walked and hit by a pitch by UNLV starter Garrett Poole (2-3).

The Rebels were able to get one run back in the third off a sacrifice fly from Nick Rodriguez. Kyle Isbel and Squier led off the inning with a single and a double, respectively, to put runners in scoring position, and the former scored on the fly ball.

The Lobos pushed their lead to four in the fifth with a pair of RBI singles from Dan Collier and Jared Mang.

UNLV was able to get the two runs back an inning later with run-scoring hits from Taormina and Squier. Ames led off with a double, which was followed by an RBI single from Taormina. A single from Cody Howard and a fielder's choice allowed Taormina to move to third before Squier's hit to right-center field.

The visitors from Albuquerque added insurance runs in the seventh and eighth off an RBI single from Gonzalez and a groundout from Andre Gregory, respectively.

Not only did Gonzalez (2-2) provide some offense for the Lobos, but he also earned the win after throwing the first 6.0 innings. He struck out two and only allowed three runs off of 12 hits.

Poole was tagged with the loss after he gave up five runs (four earned) off of four hits. He struck out one, but walks three in 6.0 innings.

UNLV hits the road, once again, for four straight beginning with a single game against the Arizona State Sun Devils Tuesday night (6:30 pm) at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. The trip will continue to Iowa City, Iowa, for a three-game weekend series (March 31-April 2) against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Duane Banks Field.

The Rebels return to Las Vegas for a quick midweek game on April 4 (6:05 pm) against Utah Valley before they venture back out for four more road contests.

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 16 and 15 games, and they're both the longest to-date since Justin Jones had a 17-game run during the 2014 campaign … Squier also extended his reached-base streak to 26 … De La Trinidad pushed his reached-base streak to 19 while Ames' went to 14.