ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (UNLVrebels.com) – The UNLV baseball team (9-5, 2-3 MW) took on New Mexico (9-6, 2-0 MW) in doubleheader fashion on Saturday afternoon, playing two games on the day after their Friday-night contest got rescheduled. The Rebels couldn't get past the Lobos despite their 22 runs in the two-game set, falling 7-6 in game one and 31-15 in game two.
The Scarlet & Gray totaled 24 hits in the two games,
JP Hefft and
Santino Panaro each getting four to tie the most on the team. Hefft's total included a double in the top of the fifth in game one, Panaro also earning a double of his own to lead off the top of the fifth in game two.
The leading scorers for the Rebels included graduate senior
Austin Kryszczuk with four runs in his spot of the lineup, picking up three in game two along with his hit and two walks. Hefft also tallied three overall in that same game, Panaro and
Rylan Charles each finding three in the two games combined.
Isaac Rodriguez led the team in game two with five RBIs overall, a career-high for the recent transfer earned that included a three-RBI double in the top of the third inning.
Brendan O'Sullivan picked up his second four-RBI game of the season in game two, the junior picking up the team's only home run of the day with a three-score blast through left field in the top of the sixth inning.
The Rebels came close to a win in the first game, picking up four runs in the top of the ninth inning to put the leading run on second base with two outs. During the thrilling half inning, Panaro pushed a single to left and advanced to second base shortly after off
Bailey Seeger's walk. After
Chase Ditmar slapped a single to center field to fill the bases, Charles would shoot a double down the right-field line to score
Gunnar Myro and Panaro.
Parker Schmidt would hit a sacrifice fly to tally one more run,
Kade Higgins continuing the rally by placing a single to center field before the Lobos grabbed the final out of the contest.
UNLV featured strong pitching from a few individuals between the two contests,
Joey Acosta holding down New Mexico late in game one with 1.2 scoreless innings of work with two strikeouts at the plate.
LJ Mercurius came into the second game to clean up in the bottom of the first inning with one out, picking up two outs without any runs or earned runs.
The Rebels will look to claim a win in the final game of the series on Sunday, March 10. The final match of the weekend is set with a first-pitch time of 11 a.m. PT.
