ST. GEORGE, Utah (UNLVrebels.com) – The UNLV baseball team (9-5) faced off against the Saint Mary Gaels (9-5) on Friday afternoon for the first of their two contests this weekend at Bruce Hurst Field. The Rebels' 14 singles in the contest propelled the offense to a run-rule victory, winning on a final score of 11-1 in seven innings.
Dean Toigo was the front runner of the day with a team-leading three hits and three RBIs in the game, picking up his total from four at bats and a walk.
Cole Koniarsky and
Elijah Rodriguez collected multiple RBIs as well in the match, both earning two hits each. Eight different UNLV batters picked up a hit in the contest, each one of them totaling two or more hits against the Gaels.
Carson Lane pitched six of the seven innings for the Rebels, throwing five shutout innings after getting out of the first. The sophomore only gave up three hits in his outing, striking out three batters en route to the victory.
LJ Mercurius came in as relief for the final inning of work, sealing the run-rule win by striking out two batters looking and earning a fly out.
Hefft served as the leadoff man in the lineup and collected a team-high three runs in the contest,
Cooper Sheff, Toigo, and
Chase Gallegos each being credited two in the contest. Gallegos also helped get his run by stealing a base, the lone stolen base of the day by either team.
"Good team win against an excellent team." mentioned head coach
Stan Stolte. "We had numerous guys that took some good at bats, plus
Carson Lane and
LJ Mercurius were really good after that first inning."
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The Hustlin' Rebels' 17 hits marks a season-high for the program, the seventh time they've achieved double-digit hits and fourth time the team has totaled double-digit runs.
- Koniarsky and Hefft each extend their hit streaks to eight-consecutive games with at least one hit after Friday's contest.
- The Scarlet & Gray's eight starters with a hit is the highest number of members in the starting lineup to be credited with at least one hit in a contest this season.
- The run-rule victory on Friday is the second time this season the Rebels have won the game early.
UP NEXT
UNLV will have one more game before returning to Las Vegas, facing off against the host Utah Tech on Saturday, March 8. The match will start a little earlier than Friday's, first pitch set to 11 a.m. PT. To get updates on all things Hustlin' Rebels, links to the season's games can be found on the team's
schedule page. You can also get live updates on how the Scarlet & Gray are faring on the team's
X (formerly known as Twitter),
Facebook and
Instagram accounts.
