ST. GEORGE, Utah (UNLVrebels.com) – The UNLV baseball team (10-5) took the diamond for their final game of the weekend on Saturday morning, facing off against Utah Tech (6-10). The Rebel offense struggled to start the contest, but erupted in the seventh inning to score 10 runs in the last three and win on a final score of 10-6.
The Scarlet & Gray's explosion in the seventh inning started off with
Elijah Rodriguez gaining a walk,
Chase Gallegos hitting an RBI single later to drive him home. Two more singles were chained to cut the Utah Tech lead to two,
Dean Toigo pushed the Rebels ahead with a three-run home run past the right side of the field for the 6-5 lead in the contest. UNLV would score in the next two innings, picking up a run off of a
JP Hefft-RBI single and three in the ninth inning off of a Gallegos RBI single and
Gunnar Myro's two-run home run.
Toigo and Myro would each earn a team-lead three RBIs in the game off of two hits, Myro's RBI outside of his homer being a sacrifice fly in that crucial seventh inning. Hefft topped the lineup in hits with three on the day in six at bats as the leadoff hitter, Gallegos also finding multiple hits in the contest with two on four official at bats. Gallegos and E. Rodriguez would match as the highest run total, both collecting two in the game. The Rebels would also steal three bases to get themselves into scoring position in the contest, Hefft,
Cole Koniarsky and Gallegos being credited in the statistical category.
The Rebels threw four different relievers in the contest,
Will Marquart finding the win after finishing the fifth and sixth innings for the program. Marquart came in for
Evan Vasiliou, pitching 1.2 innings of work and striking out two batters of his own.
Alex Overbay would close the game in the bottom of the ninth with a full inning of work, striking out two batters that included the final out of the game.
Reese Lueck started for the Rebels on the mound, only allowing two hits in three innings before the unfortunate fourth inning.
"Utah Tech was the much tougher team for six innings. They scored five two-out runs and their starting pitcher made pitches when he had to" commented head coach
Stan Stolte. "Fortunately, the light came on and we strung together some good team bats the last three innings. The two big home runs obviously were huge, but it's the hits to extend innings that made the difference."
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Myro's home run in the top of the ninth inning marked the first of his young career, now hitting .325 on the season.
- Koniarsky and Hefft extend their hit streaks after the win against Utah Tech, now picking up at least one hit in the last nine games.
- UNLV's three stolen bases ties a season-high for the crew, matching their amount earned in the series finale against #23 Cincinnati.
- The last four Hustlin' Rebel wins have totaled double-digit runs in each of the games.
UP NEXT
UNLV will travel back to Las Vegas before their next home contest, hosting UC Riverside on Tuesday, March 11 before they hit the road for their first Mountain West matches. That game is scheduled for a 2:05 p.m. PT start at Earl E. Wilson Stadium. 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.
