LAS VEGAS (UNLVrebels.com) – After claiming two out of three against Air Force over the last weekend, the UNLV baseball team (16-15) kicked off their two-game series against Utah Tech (8-23) on Tuesday night. The Rebels fought a back-and-forth with the Trailblazers,
Isaac Rodriguez slapping a double in the bottom of the ninth for the team's second-straight walk-off win on a final score of 6-5.
Utah Tech started the scoring first, putting three runs on the board in the top of the second inning off two RBI singles. The Scarlet & Gray would respond with a run on their own to close the gap to two,
Rylan Charles hitting an unconventional sacrifice lineout that was far enough in the outfield to score
Isaac Rodriguez.
Charles kept the offense going with another slap on the ball that drove in a run, shooting a double to right field in the bottom of the fifth to score
Santino Panaro from first base. With the score 3-2 in favor of the Trailblazers,
Parker Schmidt forced a two-out single to right field to get the leadoff run at the plate in the next at bat in the bottom of the sixth. That next batter would be
Brendan O'Sullivan, the junior blasting his fifth home run of the season through the left-field wall to give the Rebels their first lead of the game, 4-3.
The lead didn't last long though, Utah Tech placing two runs on their own from two-straight doubles, only allowing two runs off of it as the Rebels tossed out a runner at home plate from a Panaro-O'Sullivan-
Chase Gallegos sequence. After the Trailblazers hit those doubles for the 5-4 lead,
Matthew Maloney would take command of the mound with four different strikeouts between the top of the eighth and ninth innings to keep the deficit to one run.
Heading into the bottom of the ninth inning with Utah Tech's lead of 5-4, Schmidt took a hit on the first pitch of the inning for a free trip to first base. After Schmidt stole second base in the next at bat, Panaro singled through the third baseman that brought runners on the corners with one out in the inning.
Isaac Rodriguez stepped to the plate and saw four pitches for a 1-2 count, placing a high ball to right-center field. The ball was sent perfectly into the gap between the center and right fielder, bouncing off the wall on a high hop to give time for Panaro to take a full around towards third base. With both third-base coach
Kevin Higgins and
Parker Schmidt in front of them waving their arms home, Panaro would cross home plate uncontested as the Scarlet & Gray picked up their 16th win of the season.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Junior
Blaze Hill pitched arguably his best outing of the season on Tuesday, entering the mound in the top of the third for two innings of work where we struck out two batters and no runs.
- O'Sullivan's homer marked his second-straight game with long ball, both dingers worth two RBIs that either claimed the lead or tied the game.
- Rodriguez's two hits on Tuesday night marked his ninth game in 25 appearances where he's had more than one base hit in a game, his third game with more than one RBI.
- The Rebels extend their scoring streak to 185-consecutive games with scoring at least one run in a single contest, dating back to the 2021 season.
UP NEXT
UNLV will face off against Utah Tech in one more contest before the Rebels take the road for the weekend, their rematch set to kick off at 2:05 p.m. PT on Wednesday, April 10.
