LAS VEGAS (UNLVrebels.com) – The UNLV baseball team (13-12, 3-7 MW) kicked off another Mountain West series on Thursday night, hosting the Fresno State Bulldogs (17-8, 7-3 MW) at Earl E. Wilson Stadium.
Austin Cates would perform one of the best outings on the mound in UNLV history, setting the UNLV single-game record with 12 strikeouts in seven innings of work. The two programs would hit seven home runs combined in the contest, Fresno State pulling out on top in a 6-5 final score.
Cates had a rough start to the game, the Bulldogs slamming two home runs in the contest's first three batters. He bounced back in closing the inning, striking out the final two batters of the inning by swinging to pick up momentum. The junior would continue through the six other innings that he had on the mound with 10 K's to his name, catching seven swinging and three looking while only allowing one hit in that timespan.
Three Rebels hit pitches out of the ballpark in the bottom of the second, seventh and eighth innings. With the Bulldog's two-run lead, UNLV opened the bottom of the second with
Brendan O'Sullivan sending a two-out single up the middle of the field to drive home
Alex Pimentel after his double to left-center field.
Bailey Seeger stepped up as the next batter in the contest, swinging deep on a full 3-2 count to drive a ball right over the right-field wall to claim a 3-2 lead.
The game would go quiet until the bottom of the seventh inning, both starting pitchers dueling to see who would hiccup first. The Scarlet & Gray struck first in the battle, O'Sullivan picking up his second RBI of the game with a solo home run in left center in the first pitch of his at-bat to extend the lead.
The lead would change once again in the top of the eighth inning, Fresno State pulling ahead on a 5-4 score. The Bulldogs' starter still on the mound,
Rylan Charles would open the bottom of the inning with a first-pitch blast to right field, the ball pushing 440 feet. After tying the game back at five runs each, Fresno State would respond to the Rebels' offense with a leadoff, first-pitch homer of their own in the top of the ninth to reclaim the lead.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Cates' record-setting outing tears down a two-year record set by Josh Ibarra in the 2022 season, where he fanned 10 Air Force batters.
- Charles' home run in the bottom of the eighth marks a team-high six on the season, his third in the last week.
- The Rebels' three home run on Thursday night was their fifth game this season with three or more in a single contest.
- The Rebels have extended their run streak to 179-straight games of avoiding being shut out, dating back to the 2020 season.
UP NEXT
UNLV will face off against Fresno State in the rematch on Friday night, the second game of their three-game series over the course of the weekend. That match is set to kick off at 6:05 p.m. PT, their final game of the weekend series being on Saturday.
