LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV Rebels maintained their winning ways Saturday with their 8-5 victory over the UNR Wolf Pack in Mountain West play at Earl E. Wilson Stadium. The Rebels built a four-run lead, 5-1, off the bat of right fielder Max Smith who knocked in the team's first five runs of the game with a pair of home runs and an RBI single. UNLV extended the lead to six, 7-1, through five, and held on for the three-run triumph after UNR outscored the hosts 4-1 over the final two frames of the game.
 
With the win, the Scarlet & Gray (14-10 overall, 4-4 MW) claimed the weekend series over its northern rival, and extended its winning streak to three in the series. Delving deeper, UNLV has won six of the last seven over UNR (11-10, 3-5 MW).
 
Smith got the scoring started with a solo homer in the third and kept it going in the fourth with a three-run shot that brought home Jack-Thomas Wold and Edarian Williams after the pair had opened the inning with back-to-back singles.
 
UNR got on the scoreboard in the fourth with an RBI single by Weston Hatten; however, Smith and Vince Taormina countered with run-producing singles. Smith plated Wold, who had led off with a single, and came around to score along with Williams when Taormina sent a pitch from UNR's Owen Sharts (2-4) back up the middle.
 
UNLV starter Ryan Hare (3-2) silenced the Wolf Pack offense for the majority of his 6.0 innings of work; save for the run allowed in the fourth, which came off of only one of the two hits he allowed. More impressively, Hare began the game by retiring the first 11 Wolf Pack batters, and only faced three batters in four of six frames.
 
The Wolf Pack was able to score late with the long ball, as it got a two-run homer in both the eighth and ninth innings, while UNLV scored once in the eighth when James Gamble motored home off a wild pitch.
 
Sharts was unable to hold off the Rebel offense, as the hurler allowed seven runs (six earned) off of nine hits, with two strikeouts against one walk.
 
REBEL(S) OF THE GAME: Smith and Hare are deserving of sharing the recognition, as the former was responsible for the team's first five runs, while the latter shutdown the Wolf Pack offense through six innings.
 
STAT OF THE GAME: UNLV's 3-5 batters combined to score seven of the team's eight runs, with three from Smith and two apiece from Wold and Williams. The trio also had six hits, going 6-for-13 for a .462 batting average.
 
QUOTABLE: "Max (Smith) really jumpstarted us early and then (Ryan) Hare kept the game under control," said head coach Stan Stolte. "I thought (James) Gamble's catch in the seventh kept them from getting some momentum, and on nights like this, it can be tough to get that 27th out."
 
REBEL NOTES:
- With the win, UNLV improved to 86-65 in the all-time series standings vs. UNR.
- UNLV is now 10-2 in games it scores six or more runs, and 2-0 when it scores exactly eight runs.
- UNLV is now 10-3 when it limits an opponent to five or fewer runs.
- UNLV is now 8-3 in games it scores first.
- UNLV is now 11-3 when it outhits an opponent.
- UNLV has registered double-digit hits in three straight games and 14 of its last 17; the team had only posted double figures in hits twice in the first seven contests.
- UNLV's Conner Woods pitched to three batters in the ninth, striking out one, to record a save – his first of the season.
- UNR's relief trio of Josh Congress, Jake Fenn and Dalton Gomez combined to throw 3.2 innings and only allowed one run off of two hits and two walks.
- UNLV got multiple-hit outings from Wold (10th), Smith (ninth) and Taormina (fourth).
- UNLV got multiple-RBI outings from Smith (fifth) and Taormina (first).
- Smith's five RBI were a career high, and they were the most by a Rebel since Kyle Isbel had six against Columbia on Feb. 24, 2018.
- With the addition of one hit Saturday, Johnson has produced a .415 batting average with 27 hits in 66 at-bats in his last 15 games. Moreover, he has at least one hit in 13 games of this stretch with nine of those resulting in multiple-hit displays.
- Wold is hitting .545 (12-for-22) in his last five games, with seven extra-base hits (six doubles and one homer) that has helped produce a staggering .955 slugging percentage and .600 on-base percentage. Additionally, he's notched nine RBI and six runs.
 
UP NEXT: UNLV remains at Earl E. Wilson Stadium to continue its nine-game homestand with one more against its intrastate rival, the UNR Wolf Pack. Sunday's finale will get going at 1:05 pm. Not only do these three contests against UNR count towards the Mountain West standings, but also the standings for the Silver State Series, the all-encompassing athletic and academic competition between UNLV and UNR, which is presented by IBEW and Nevada Donor Network.
 
UC Riverside (March 26-27) and New Mexico (March 29-31) will also travel to Southern Nevada to face the Rebels next week.
 
PURCHASE TICKETS: Tickets are now on sale for the 2019 season. Season tickets are just $90 for adults (13 and older) and $75 for UNLV faculty, staff and alumni, and seniors (62-plus). Single-game ticket prices this season are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors, faculty and staff seniors, and $4 for groups of 15 or more. Fans that purchase tickets online up to three hours prior to first pitch can get them for an advanced single-game price of $5.
 
All high school, middle school and elementary students are now free under UNLV's new admission policy. To receive free admission, high school students must present valid Nevada area school I.D. at the box office on gameday to receive one (1) complimentary ticket. All other students will receive a complimentary ticket at the box office (no I.D. required). Kids not yet elementary school age will continue to receive free admission for all UNLV Olympic sports.