LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV baseball team defeated the Washington State Cougars, 15-8, at Earl E. Wilson Stadium Wednesday afternoon to earn a split in the two-game, midweek series. The Rebels (8-4) scored six unanswered runs over the sixth, seventh and eighth innings to pull away from the Cougars (12-5) after they pulled within one, 9-8, in the fifth.
UNLV recorded a .417 batting average (16-for-36) as a team in the game, getting at least one hit from eight starters and multiple-hit efforts from five of those. More impressively, the Rebels showed their patience at the plate, walking a season-high 14 times.
The Rebels' 1-2-3 batters –
Brendan Brooks,
Diego Alarcon and
Jack-Thomas Wold – combined for eight hits, seven RBI and six runs, while the 8-9 spots –
Jason Hare and
James Gamble – added four hits, three RBI and six runs.
Individually, Brooks and Alarcon led the squad with three hits apiece, while the former alone had a hand in nine of the team's runs, knocking in five RBI and scoring four times.
The Cougars struck first with a run in the second inning; however, the Rebels answered back with five in the bottom half of the frame and four more in the third to stake themselves to a 9-1 lead. Unfortunately, Washington State was able to turn things around over the fourth and fifth, pushing across a total of seven runs to pull within one at 9-8.
UNLV pulled away in the sixth with a pair of runs coming off an RBI single by Alarcon and a bases-loaded walk issued to
Eric Bigani. The Rebels added three more insurance runs later on, plating three in the seventh off a double from Gamble and a single by Brooks as well as a wild pitch. They tacked on one last tally in the eighth when Hare was hit by a pitch when the bases were loaded.
After their middle-inning outburst, the Cougar offense was silenced by the Rebel relievers
Ty Pohlmann,
Alex Verdugo and
Alex Tisminezky. The trio did not allow a run in 4.1 innings of relief, striking out three and only giving up two hits and four walks.
Noah Beal (1-1) picked up the win for UNLV after throwing the first two frames of the contest, striking out one against one run off four hits and one walk. Conversely, Washington State starter Micky Thompson (0-1) suffered the loss after he surrendered three runs off two hits and four walks in 1.0 inning of work.
NOTES:
-With Wednesday's result, UNLV took a one-game lead in the head-to-head series with Washington State and now leads 12-11 in 23 meetings.
-UNLV's 14 walks were the most since the 2011 squad took 15 free passes – the third most in program history – against the Maine Black Bears on Feb. 19, 2011 – a 16-11 Rebel win.
-UNLV's 15 runs, 16 hits and 13 RBI are the second most in each category recorded this season and only trail the 24 runs, 20 hits and 22 runs notched in seven innings against New Mexico on March 6.
-UNLV had seven doubles Tuesday, which are the most since it had seven twice during the 2012 campaign – vs. Omaha on April 15 and vs. Southern Utah on March 27. Coincidentally, the '12 squad had eight doubles two games prior to that SUU affair on March 24 at Air Force.
-Dating back to game two of the San Diego State series on March 13, UNLV has posted five straight contests with double-digit hits. In the first seven games of the season, the Rebels hit in double figures three times.
-With a single in the third, Pfeifer extended his team-leading hit and reached-base streaks to eight games.
-With his two hits, Wold recorded his team-leading ninth multi-hit game of the season.
-With his three hits, Alarcon recorded his seventh multi-hit game of the season.
UP NEXT: UNLV jumps back into Mountain West play with a road trip to the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains to face the Air Force Falcons this weekend. The Rebels and Falcons will square off three times at Falcon Field. The first two games will be played as part of a doubleheader Saturday, beginning at 11:00 am MT (10:00 am PT). The finale is set for Sunday at 12:00 pm MT (11:00 am PT).
