LAS VEGAS (UNLVrebels.com) – Coming into their final home series of the regular season, the UNLV baseball team (24-21, 10-15 MW) hosted the New Mexico Lobos (24-20, 13-9) on Friday night to kick off senior weekend. The Rebels held strong to start, but a second-half rally by New Mexico credited UNLV the loss on a 15-8 final score.
 
Kade Higgins emerged as the Scarlet & Gray's top hitter of the night, earning two hits on four at bats that drove in three runs during the contest. The right fielder blasted a home run out through right-center left late in the bottom of the ninth inning for one RBI, picking up a two-RBI hit in the bottom of the fifth inning to push the Rebel lead to two. Parker Schmidt was the only multi-RBI hitter in the game for the Rebels, picking up his pair on a triple that would send home JP Hefft and Isaac Rodriguez in the later-half of the bottom of the eighth inning.
 
The lineup featured two other multi-hit batters in the game, Chase Ditmar finding two with a single in the second inning and an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth. The later pushed the Rebel lead to three during that fifth inning, the run driving in Higgins. Brendan O'Sullivan's two hits stemmed from that fifth and seventh innings of the contest, earning a run in the game as well after reaching on a walk to later score off of Bailey Seeger's contact with the ball.
 
The Rebels picked up a quick 1-0 lead after two innings, the game turning to a pitchers' duel as the teams would stay silent until the fifth inning. After the Lobos tied it up in the top, the Scarlet & Gray pushed out three runs in the bottom of the fifth for a 4-1 lead. The Lobos tallied five runs in response to take a 6-4 lead, then scoring nine more runs in the final three innings of the contest to secure the win.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Higgins' home run marked his fifth of the season, also reaching 25 RBI in his season-high three on Friday.
- Austin Kryszczuk's hit in the contest pushed him to a career mark of 246, four away from an illustrious 250 during his time in college.
- UNLV run streak moves up to 199-consecutive games, avoiding the shutout since the 2021 season. 

UP NEXT
The Rebels will look to bounce back against the Lobos tomorrow, taking on New Mexico on Saturday, May 4 for the second of their three games set. The first pitch for that contest is marked for 6:05 p.m. PT, fans being able to pick up limited edition "Star Wars" gameday posters of the UNLV baseball team while supplies last.