FRESNO, Calif. (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV baseball team split Saturday's Mountain West doubleheader with the Fresno State Bulldogs at Pete Beiden Field at Bob Bennett Stadium. The Rebels claimed game one, 13-2, but were unable to complete the comeback bid in the nightcap, losing 6-4.
Following the twin bill, UNLV sits 20-12 overall and 15-11 in the MW, while FS is 18-23 on the year and 14-16 in conference play.
The Rebels outhit the Bulldogs by 156 points on the day, with the former registering a .398 batting average (33-for-83) to the latter's .242 (16-for-66). The Scarlet & Gray had 12 extra-base hits (six doubles, three home runs and one triple) that resulted in 50 bases and a .602 slugging percentage, while Fresno State had eight extra-base hits for 33 total bases and a .500 slugging percentage. UNLV also edged the hosts in on-base percentage by 109 points (.451 to .342).
UNLV had six players record two or more hits on the day, with
Myles Denson pacing the squad with six, while
Diego Alarcon and
Edarian Williams had five apiece and
Trevor Rosenberg and
Jack-Thomas Wold had four each.
Denson notched a .750 average with six hits in eight at-bats, with one double, three RBI and three runs. Alarcon hit .625 (5-for-8) with three walks, three runs and two RBI. Williams went 5-for-11 for a .455 average and added three RBI and one run.
On the mound,
Bradley Spooner (6-3) went the distance for his second straight complete game. Spooner, who threw 7.0 innings last week in a run-ruled affair against San Diego State, recorded his second complete-game effort of the year in 9.0 innings. The right-handed hurler struck out six against two runs, six hits and four walks. In game two,
Noah Beal,
Alex Tisminezky and
Austin Bryan (2-1) combined for 8.0 innings and 10 strikeouts; however, they gave up six runs – two each, and allowed 10 hits and five walks.
GAME ONE RECAP: UNLV slowly pulled away from Fresno State with a run in the second, third and fourth innings and then doubled up its lead to six runs, 6-0, with a three run sixth. The Bulldogs were able to cut into the deficit in the seventh with a pair of runs only to see the Rebels score five in the eighth and two more in the ninth to run away with the win.
Five of UNLV's first six runs were scored with two outs on the scoreboard.
Trevor Rosenberg and Williams produced the first two two-out runs with an RBI single in the second and an RBI double in the third, respectively, off Fresno State starter Jamison Hill (5-3).
Austin Kryszczuk led off the fourth with a solo homer to halt the two-out efforts; however, Alarcon and Wold rekindled them with an RBI single and a two-run homer in the sixth.
The Bulldogs' two runs were a result of back-to-back homers from Zach Morgan and Ivan Luna off Spooner in the seventh, but the Rebels answered with a long ball of their own, as
James Gamble hit a two-run shot, plating Rosenberg, in the eighth. Wold and Williams had a role in the final five runs, as each produced an RBI single in both the eighth and ninth, while the former scored in the eighth off a wild pitch.
For the game, Wold went 4-for-6 with a two-run homer, four RBI and two runs. Alarcon, Gamble, Rosenberg and Williams had three hits apiece and combined for seven RBI and six runs.
Hill wound up with the loss after he allowed four runs off 10 hits and one walk in 5.1 innings. The Bulldogs' bullpen threw the final 3.2 innings and surrendered nine runs off 12 hits, with two strikeouts against two walks.
GAME TWO RECAP: Scoring was at a premium in the second half of the doubleheader, as Fresno State was able to push across a pair in the first inning and then two more to tie it in the fifth moments after UNLV had scored four of its own in the top of the frame. The Bulldogs managed to break the stalemate in the seventh and tacked on an insurance tally in the eighth, but had to hold on tight as the Scarlet & Gray loaded the bases in the ninth.
Trailing by two in the ninth, 6-4,
Rylan Charles was called upon to pinch-hit with one out and delivered with a double to right-center field. Two batters later, Alarcon took a four-pitch walk to put runners on first and second for Wold, who was intentionally walked after Fresno State reliever Oscar Carvajal uncorked a wild pitch that allowed the runners to move into scoring position. With the bases loaded, Williams worked a full count, but Carvajal was able to record a strikeout to end the contest.
The Bulldogs opened the game with a solo homer from EJ Andrews and an RBI double from Ryan Higgins, and that was the only offense through the first four stanzas. The Rebels turned things around, albeit briefly, in the fifth with an RBI single from Alarcon and a three-run double from Denson to turn a two-run deficit into a two-run lead, 4-2, off Bulldog starter Jake Dixon. Unfortunately, Fresno State was able to answer back in its half of the fifth off an RBI single and a wild pitch. The hosts pulled ahead for good in the seventh off a solo homer from Zach Presno before they added an RBI single from Andrew Kachel in the eighth.
Fresno State's Kyle Pruhsmeier (2-1) earned the win in 1.0 inning of scoreless relief, while Carvajal picked up his fifth save after surviving the dramatic ninth.
NOTES:
-Wold upped his hitting streak and reached-base streak to 17 games apiece in game one; however, the latter was the only one continued through game two Saturday night. He was walked twice to push the reached-base streak to 18 games, but he was hitless in the contest.
-During Wold's 17-game hit streak, he batted .521 (38-for-73) with 10 multiple-hit games. He had 19 extra-base hits (11 homers, seven doubles and one triple) with 80 total bases that resulted in a 1.096 slugging percentage, while those hits and 10 walks resulted in a .571 on-base percentage. He also added 29 RBI and scored 25 runs.
-Wold was the second Rebel to reach the 17-game hit streak mark this season, as Denson had a season-best 18-game stretch halted two weekends ago against UNR.
-With his multiple-hit and multiple-RBI game efforts in game one Saturday, Wold has achieved the former 19 times and the latter 12 times, and leads both categories.
-Wold's 11 home runs are the most since Rebel alum Nick Ames smashed 13 during the 2018 campaign.
-Despite having his 18-game hit streak snapped by UNR on May 9, Denson has bumped his batting average by 50 points (.352 to .402) in five games. In this stretch, he's hitting .619 (13-for-21) with four multiple-hit games, which includes a 5-for-5 effort vs. San Diego State (G1/May 15) and a 4-for-4 performance vs. Fresno State (G2/May 22). He's also produced .714 slugging and .652 on-base percentages.
UP NEXT: UNLV closes out its 2021 regular-season schedule Sunday afternoon against Fresno State. The rubber match of the three-game, Mountain West series is scheduled for 1:35 pm at Bennett Stadium.
