LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV baseball team (3-8) could not have scripted a better ending on a day it honored the legacy of former head coach Tim Chambers. The Rebel offense erupted for a season-high 12 runs and four home runs in its 12-3, series-clinching victory over the Creighton Bluejays (4-5) Sunday at Earl E. Wilson Stadium.
 
Prior to the game, the Rebel baseball program had Chambers' wife Kimberlie and daughters, McKenzie and Chase, on hand to throw out the ceremonial first pitches. Additionally, the team displayed a red bench that it has dedicated to Chambers' memory that will sit outside the Anthony and Lyndy Marnell III Baseball Clubhouse.
 
The Scarlet & Gray blew past the Bluejays with the help of three innings that saw its offense score three or more runs. The squad pushed four across in the second and never looked back, while adding four more in the fifth and three in the sixth. The Rebels plated one in the seventh for their 12th tally of the day. Creighton, on the other hand, was only able to score one run each in the fifth, seventh and ninth frames.
 
Austin Kryszczuk, Chris Dunn and Jack-Thomas Wold combined for four hits – all home runs, nine RBI and six runs scored against Bluejay pitching. Kryszczuk was responsible for four of the runs, crushing a pair of two-run homers in the second and sixth. Dunn cranked a grand slam off the batter's eye in center field in the fifth, while Wold went yard three at-bats before Kryszczuk in the sixth.
 
The Rebels also got an RBI each from Grant Robbins, Trevor Rosenberg and Alex Sardina.
 
On the mound, Josh Sharman improved to 1-1 early on the year, striking out nine in 7.1 innings of work. Sharman only allowed two runs off of six hits and one walk. The southpaw held the Bluejays scoreless for four of the seven-complete innings he threw and three 1-2-3 frames to begin the affair. More impressively, he picked off three base runners at first base, two of which came in the fifth inning alone.
 
CU's Ben Dotzler (0-1) was saddled with the loss after getting pulled in the second inning, only throw 1.0 frame of action. Dotzler was roughed up for four runs off of four hits and two walks. The three relievers that followed him to the mound did not fare much better, giving up eight runs off of seven hits and three walks.
 
QUOTABLE: "That was another great pitching performance this weekend," said head coach Stan Stolte. "(Josh) Sharman just battles and changes speeds, and never flinches. (Austin) Kryszczuk and (Chris) Dunn also had a big game for us. It was a great bounce-back win after the tough loss yesterday. Our schedule doesn't get any easier, but it's getting us tougher, which I can see. That team we beat took Michigan to the final game of the regionals last year, so that was a good weekend for us and Timmy (Chambers) would have been proud of the way we played today!"
 
NOTES:
-Kryszczuk's two-home run effort was the first by a Rebel since Max Smith went yard twice against UNR on March 23, 2019.
-Dunn's grand slam was the first by a Rebel since Dillon Johnson cleared the bases in the first round of the Mountain West Championships against San Diego State on May 23, 2019.
-Sharman's nine strikeouts tied for the team high by a Rebel this season, which was originally achieved Saturday by teammate Chase Maddux.
-These last two Rebel games have featured the two longest outings by a starting pitcher this season: Maddux threw 7.2 innings Saturday, while Sharman went 7.1 innings.
 
UP NEXT: UNLV hits the road for a two-game, midweek series in Lubbock, Texas, against the Texas Tech Red Raiders. The Big 12 squad comes into the series ranked as high as No. 3 in the nation (NCBWA Top 25 Poll) and sporting an 11-1 overall record, backed by a seven-game win streak. This weekend, the Red Raiders were perfect in the Sunshine State with a 7-1 win over Florida Atlantic and a pair of one-run victories (6-5 and 4-3) over No. 14 Florida State.
 
BACK AT EARL E.: UNLV returns to Las Vegas and Earl E. Wilson Stadium for five straight, beginning with its second straight visit from a Big East squad as well as a foe from the American Athletic Conference. The Rebels welcome St. John's to town for a three-game set that begins Friday and runs through Sunday, while a two-game, midweek series against Houston follows Tuesday and Wednesday.