LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV baseball team maintained its winning ways, sweeping Saturday's doubleheader against the Air Force Falcons, despite missing nearly three weeks of action because of COVID-19 related issues. The Rebels held off the Falcons in game one, 12-9, before running away with game two, 11-4, to claim their fifth series of the 2021 campaign.
 
With the pair of victories, the Scarlet & Gray improved to 16-7 overall and 11-6 in the Mountain West, and extended its season-best win streak to eight games. This current stretch is the longest by a Rebel squad since the 2018 edition rattled off eight straight en route to a 20-3 start that campaign. The Falcons, meanwhile, move to 16-18 overall and 8-12 in conference play.
 
The Rebels were highly offensive in the twin bill, scoring a total of 23 runs off 28 hits. In its 16 innings at the plate – eight in each contest, UNLV scored in 13 of those with six featuring multiple runs. Air Force, on the other hand, was only able to score in seven of 18 innings, but five were limited to only one run, as the Colorado squad combined for 13 runs and 22 hits.
 
Offensively, UNLV posted a .394 batting average, as nine of the 10 batters that registered an at-bat had at least one hit. Five Rebels batted .333 or higher, with Jack-Thomas Wold (.750), Myles Denson (.667) and Jack-Thomas Wold (.600) notched six hits apiece. The aforementioned trio also amassed 1.300 or higher slugging percentages, as Wold and Williams both had two home runs and one double in the twin bill, while Williams had one home run and one double. Brendan Brooks had a 1.000 slugging percentage, as all three of his hits went for extra bases (two doubles and one triple) and led to a .429 batting average.
 
Austin Bryan (1-0) and Bradley Spooner (4-2) picked up the wins on the mound, as the former threw 1.2 innings of scoreless relief with three strikeouts, while the latter started game two and went 5.0 innings, striking out eight against three runs off six hits and no walks. Troy Balko earned his third save of the year, throwing 3.0 innings in game one, with five strikeouts against two runs off four hits and two walks. Noah Mattera recorded a 4.0 inning save in game two, with three strikeouts against one run off three hits and one walk.
 
GAME ONE RECAP: UNLV staked itself to an early 3-0 lead in the first inning off a two-out, solo homer from Wold and an RBI single from Denson, who later scored off a wild pitch. The Rebels extended their advantage to eight runs – 10-2 – through four innings of play after scoring one in the second and three in both the third and fourth, with Denson providing a three-run homer in the latter frame.
 
Things turned in the fifth, as the Falcons managed to cut into their deficit with five runs off five hits, getting three of those runs off back-to-back homers from Paul Skenes (two RBI) and Gabriel Garcia (one). The Rebels answered back in their half of the fifth with a triple from Brooks that was followed by a sac fly from Diego Alarcon. The final three runs were a result of the long ball, as Air Force got solo shots from Cayden Zimmerman and Cole Blatchford in the seventh and eighth, respectively, while Williams capped the scoring with a solo shot in the eighth.
 
The Falcons were able to get the potential game-tying run to the plate in the ninth with two outs after Balko walked a batter and hit another; however, a grounder to Brooks at short stop ended any threat.
 
Williams (5-for-5) and Denson (3-for-5) combined for eight hits, six runs and five RBI.
 
GAME TWO RECAP: UNLV jumped out to another 3-0 lead, getting a run off a double play in the first inning and two more in the second off a triple from Austin Kryszczuk and a sac fly from James Gamble. Air Force drew even in the fourth with three runs, but the stalemate was short lived as UNLV scored six unanswered over the fourth through sixth – to lead 9-3, getting one in the fourth off a wild pitch and two in both the fifth and sixth off two-run homers from Williams and Wold, respectively.
 
The Falcons scored one last time in the seventh, while the Rebels tacked on insurance tallies in the seventh and eighth.
 
Wold went 4-for-4 in the tilt, scoring three runs and knocking in two. Denson added three hits and two runs, while Brooks and Kyrszczuk had identical stat lines of two hits, two runs and one RBI.
 
NOTES:
-Denson extended his team-best reached base streak to 16 games, and his hit streak to 15 games Saturday. Since game one of the San Diego State series on March 13, he is batting .456 (26-for-57) with seven multiple-hit outings, including three hits in three straight and four of the last five. Eight of his 26 hits have gone for extra bases (four home runs and four doubles) and produced a .737 slugging percentage, while those hits and six walks have resulted in a .500 on-base percentage. He has also chipped in 16 runs and 12 RBI during this stretch.
-Wold upped his hitting streak to nine games with hits in both games Saturday. During this stretch, he is hitting .459 (17-for-37) with five multiple-hit games. Five of his 17 hits have gone for extra bases (three homers and two doubles) and produced a .757 slugging percentage, while those hits and six walks have resulted in a .535 on-base percentage. He's also added 13 runs and eight RBI.
-With 14 hits in both games Saturday, UNLV has recorded double-figure hit totals in 10 straight contests and 15 of its last 16. Moreover, they have had exactly 14 hits in three straight contests.
-With the Rebels scoring in double digits both games Saturday, they have registered 10 or more runs in three straight outings and eight overall in 2021.
 
UP NEXT: UNLV and Air Force close out their three-game, conference series Sunday at Wilson Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 11:05 am.