SAN DIEGO (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV baseball team (6-3 overall, 6-3 MW) suffered an 8-6 loss to the San Diego State Aztecs (9-4, 4-2 MW) in the Mountain West series finale at Tony Gwynn Stadium Sunday.
The Scarlet & Gray had an opportunity in the ninth inning to at least tie the game; however, the Rebels were unable to capitalize with the bases loaded after singles from
Edarian Williams and
Myles Denson, and a walk issued to
James Gamble.
The Rebels led by three, 5-2, through six innings of play, but the host Aztecs flipped the game in their favor with six runs off of six hits in the seventh of UNLV relievers
Jimmy Gamboa (2-1) and
Troy Balko.
UNLV staked itself to an early 3-0 lead off the bat of
Diego Alarcon, who hit a two-run home run in the first and followed that with an RBI double in the second.
SDSU answered with a run in both the third and fourth innings to pull within one at 3-2 only to see UNLV answer back with a pair of sacrifice flies in the sixth from
Trevor Rosenberg and Alarcon to reclaim the three-run lead at 5-2.
Jack-Thomas Wold had an RBI single in the eighth to pull UNLV within two, 8-6.
UNLV's
Josh Sharman got the start on the mound and tossed the first six innings, allowing only two runs off four hits and one walk.
SDSU used a total of seven pitchers, with its starter, Ricky Tibbett, giving up three runs off seven hits. Nate Hansen (2-0) was credited with the win after throwing one inning of scoreless relief, and Tre Brown earned his second save of the season.
NOTES:
-Sharman has now thrown at least 6.0 innings in all three of his starts this season and has held the opposition to three or fewer runs and five hits in each contest.
-After the weekend series, Wold and Alarcon are both batting .385 on the year with 15 hits apiece, with each recording five extra-base hits.
-With a single Sunday, Pfeifer extended his hitting streak to five games, tying
Jack-Thomas Wold for the longest hit streak of the year.
-By virtue of his first-inning home run, Alarcon extended his reached-base streak to six games, tying Wold for the longest streak of the year.
-UNLV sits 5-1 on the year after losing its first game when its offense scores three or more runs.
-UNLV sits 5-1 on the year after losing its first game when its offense scores first.
UP NEXT: UNLV stays on the road and will play the No. 18 Arizona State Sun Devils (11-2) Tuesday at Municipal Stadium in Phoenix. First pitch between the Rebels and Sun Devils is set for 12:05 pm.
