LAS VEGAS (UNLVrebels.com) – Coming off of the 5-0 win against the Santa Clara Broncos (11-6) on Saturday, the UNLV baseball team (10-8) faced off on Sunday afternoon for the final day of the weekend. The teams traded blows back-and-forth before the Broncos bested the Rebels late on a final score of 9-5.
Santa Clara kicked off the game with a quick 2-0 lead after the top of the third inning, but
Kade Higgins would bring the score back to one with his RBI single to left-center field. The junior's hit drove in
Paul Myro IV and sent
Isaac Rodriguez to second, both players reaching on free trips to first base.
The Broncos would erupt with scoring in the fifth, but the Rebels responded with a four-run inning of their own to bring the game back within one score (6-5). The inning started as
Rylan Charles shot a two-base slap to right field, being brought home the very next batter in
JP Hefft's single up the middle. After Rodriguez earned another free base in the contest to put runners on first and second, Higgins would get the bases loaded with a short single that just made it into right center.
Austin Kryszczuk would then take the plate and garner an unconventional RBI, taking the walk to keep the bases loaded and bring home Higgins from third. With two outs,
Santino Panaro sent a single up the middle of the field to score two runners in Rodriguez and Higgins. The game would then move back to a one-run contest.
Santa Clara later erupted for another three-run inning in the top of the seventh, hitting a homer and a triple during the inning. The Rebels would load the bases later in the bottom of the eighth on a Panaro and Hefft's walks and Myro IV's single, but couldn't bring any of them across the plate.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Hefft's two hits during Sunday's contest now tallies a team-high 27 on the team, picking up 10 in the last five games for the Rebels.
- UNLV has now scored five or more runs for six-straight games, dating back to the stretch's start against New Mexico on March 9.
- The Rebels' streak of scoring at least one run in a contest now moves to 172, dating back to the 2020 season.
UP NEXT
The Scarlet & Gray will host a quick mid-week two-game series this week against Saint Mary's, taking on the program at Earl E. Wilson Stadium for home games on Tuesday, March 19 and Wednesday, March 20. That first game is set with a start time of 6:05 p.m. PT.
