LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV baseball team (0-1) lost its season opener to the Central Michigan Chippewas (1-0) at Earl E. Wilson Stadium Friday evening. The squads from the Mountain West and Mid-American Conferences sat deadlocked at 7-all through six innings of play; however, the Chippewas outscored the Rebels by three runs, 5-2, over the final three frames to claim the 12-9 decision.
 
The game was scoreless through two innings before the squads began to alternate scoring runs. The Chippewas put four on the scoreboard in the third only to see the Rebels score four of their own in the fourth. CMU pushed back ahead with a three-run fifth, but UNLV countered with three in the sixth. The Maroon & Gold reclaimed the lead for good in the seventh with another four-run outburst followed by a single tally in the eighth. The Scarlet & Gray managed to push two across in the home half of the eighth, but was not able to get any closer than three runs.
 
UNLV was paced offensively by Austin Pfeifer who had three runs and scored one run with help from a three-run home run in the fourth. Trevor Rosenberg and Edarian Williams knocked in two RBI apiece off a pair of two-run singles that came in the sixth and eighth innings, respectively. In all, eight Rebels had at least one hit, while eight scored a minimum of one time, with Grant Robbins crossing home plate twice.
 
CMU's Griffin Lockwood-Powell and Garrett Navarra combined for six hits, four RBI and four runs with each posting identical 3-or-4 efforts from the plate with two RBI and two runs apiece. Aidan Shephardson also had a multiple-RBI and multiple-run outing, knocking in three and scoring twice.
 
Ian Leatherman (1-0) earned the win for the Chippewas in 3.2 innings of relief, striking out four against three runs off of one hit and one walk. Conner Woods (0-1) suffered the loss for the Rebels in 1.0 inning of relief work, allowing one run off two walks.
 
STAT OF THE GAME: UNLV used five pitchers in the contest and the quintet combined to walk 11 batters and hit two more. Eight of CMU's 12 runs were a result of those batters that initially reached base via walk (six) or were hit by a pitch (two). The Chippewas only had four runs come from those that either recorded a hit (three) or made their way to first off a fielder's choice (one).
 
QUOTABLE: "That was just a bad baseball game," said head coach Stan Stolte. "We pride ourselves in playing good, sound baseball and that obviously didn't happen tonight in all three phases. Even so, if we score nine runs on a Friday, that should be plenty. When you throw 200 pitches on a Friday night, your chance of winning is minimal. Our kids know it and I expect them to bounce back tomorrow."
 
NOTES:
-UNLV is now 11-5 all-time against CMU; however, Friday's loss snapped the Rebels' six-game win streak that began in 2011.
 
UP NEXT: UNLV and CMU continue their season-opening, nonconference series at Earl E. Wilson Stadium Saturday with a doubleheader that is slated to start at 2:05 pm, while the second helping of the twin bill is tentatively scheduled for 6:05 pm Saturday. Sunday's fourth and final affair will start at 1:05 pm.