Box Score

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV baseball team fell behind early to the San Diego State Aztecs and its offense was never able to recover from the deficit en route to a 20-6 loss Friday night at Earl E. Wilson Stadium. The Aztecs (25-11, 12-5 MW) scored at least one run in each of the first five innings and used a seven-run fourth to put plenty of distance between themselves and the host Rebels (13-24, 7-10 MW).

With each team posting a win through two contests, Saturday's rubber game will decide the victor of this week's three-game Mountain West series. Additionally, it is "Bark in the Park" at Wilson Stadium, and fans are encouraged to bring their dogs; however, a liability waiver must be signed prior to entry through the gates.

"It's the same theme; we just don't have pitching if we have to go to the bullpen early," said head coach Stan Stolte. "We did a great job on offense scoring four runs in the bottom of the third, but we let them answer back with seven in the top of the fourth, all with two outs. That was a back breaker."

The Aztecs took an early 2-0 lead in the first off one-out RBI base hits from Danny Sheehan (double) and Jordan Verdon (single). Alan Trejo got things started in the team's first at-bat with a double before scoring off Sheehan's two-base hit.

UNLV answered back in its half of the first with a solo home run from Payton Squier -- his second of the season and second in the series.

SDSU upped its one-run edge with a combined seven runs between the second and third frames. In the second, the team used five consecutive hits to push across four tallies, including an RBI single from Trejo, a two-run double from Andrew Brown and another RBI double from Sheehan. The Aztecs pushed the score to 9-1 in the third with help from a two-run triple from Dean Nevarez and a sacrifice fly from David Hensley.

The Rebels managed to get four of those runs back off a five-hit third. Ernie De La Trinidad began the offensive with a solo homer. Justin Jones and Cody Howard kept it going with back-to-back singles before Bryson Stott and Nick Ames connected on an RBI double and two-run single, respectively.

Unfortunately, the Aztecs countered with the seven runs in the fourth to pull away, although UNLV scored once later in the frame when Austin Anderson, who led off with a double, made his way home off a wild pitch.

SDSU added four more to the scoreboard between the fifth and eighth to add to its lead.

Howard and Taormina ended the night with two-hit efforts while Ames was the only Rebel with a multiple-RBI outing. Six different players scored one run apiece.

Brett Seeburger improved to 7-1 on the year with 5.0 innings of work for the Aztecs. Seeburger allowed six runs off of eight hits with five strikeouts against two walks. A trio of relievers closed out the game for SDSU with four scoreless innings.

Tevita Gerber (3-5) was on the hook for the loss after he allowed nine runs off of 10 hits with two walks and two strikeouts.

Fans can purchase tickets for $5 online and in advance at UNLVTickets.com. Tickets purchased at the Wilson Stadium box office are $8 for adults, $6 for senior/faculty/staff, while kids 12 and under as well as UNLV students are free.

NOTES: De La Trinidad extended his reached-base streak to 30 games -- the longest since Joey Armstrong's run of 36 straight during the 2015 campaign ... Ames posted his 10th multiple-RBI game -- the first in double digits since current Rebel assistant coach Pat Armstrong had 12 in 2014.