LAS VEGAS (UNLVrebels.com) – After taking the season series against San Jose State last weekend to open the Mountain West schedule, the UNLV baseball team (9-3) played host to BYU on Tuesday afternoon for a mid-week non-conference matchup. The Cougars' hot start made the difference in the contest, taking down the Rebels on a final score of 6-4.
BYU put the pressure on the Scarlet & Gray early, hitting back-to-back home runs in their first two at bats to start the game. The Rebels would strike back in the bottom of the third inning, taking the lead off of a series of hits that tallied three runs overall. After
Rylan Charles singled and
JP Hefft drew a walk to put two runners on base,
Kade Higgins picked up his sixth RBI of the season with a ground-rule double to right field.
Austin Kryszczuk headed to the batter's box for the next at bat, crushing a single for two more RBIs to drive home Hefft and Higgins.
The Cougars would inch further away as the innings went by, earning two runs in the top of the fifth and another in the top of the seventh. The Rebels would inch closer in the bottom of the eighth inning,
Isaac Rodriguez pinch hitting and pushing an RBI single to right center. That hit would advance
Paul Myro IV to second and score Higgins. BYU's defense would halt UNLV after that.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Higgins' two hits during Tuesday's contest continues his hit streak to eleven-straight games, placing at least one hit in every contest outside of the season opener.
- Kryszczuk's two RBIs total 20 on the 2024 season, picking up at least one in the last eight games.
- The Rebels tossed six different pitchers on the mound in the contest,
Jesus Gonzalez coming in as relief in the eighth inning to retire the side and strikeout one. Freshman
LJ Mercurius stepped in as well for 1.2 innings of work, fanning out two different batters at the plate.
- UNLV still leads the all-time series against BYU with a record of 77-73 after their 150th all-time meeting on Tuesday.
UP NEXT
UNLV will take the road to Albuquerque, N.M. for a weekend series in the next couple days, facing off against New Mexico. Those three games will start on Friday, March 8 at 7:00 p.m. PT, playing a game each day over the three-day stretch through Sunday, March 10.
