PHOENIX, Ariz. (UNLVRebels.com) - UNLV baseball powered past Grand Canyon, 13-8, in the series opener on Friday night at Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark.
HOW IT WENT DOWN: UNLV (20-14, 4-6 MW) shook off an early deficit and leaned on three home runs, including a go-ahead blast in the sixth, to outslug Grand Canyon (11-23, 3-7 MW) in a back-and-forth contest that featured 21 combined runs.The Lopes struck first in the opening inning, capitalizing on a UNLV fielding error before Cannon Peery delivered an RBI double to give the Lopes a 1-0 lead. In the second, Jayden Hertel put the Rebels on top with one swing, launching a two-run home run to deep right field to make it 2-1. However, Grand Canyon answered immediately in the bottom half, scoring three runs on just two hits, highlighted by Trevor Schmidt's two-run single to reclaim a 4-2 lead.
UNLV responded again in the third, as Cooper Sheff delivered a three-run homer to left-center, flipping the score back in favor of the Rebels at 5-4. The momentum continued to swing in the bottom of the inning when the Lopes plated two more runs to edge back ahead, 6-5. That would be the last time Grand Canyon led. The Scarlet & Gray tied the game in the fifth on an RBI single from Ayden Garcia before Hertel struck again, lining a two-run single to give UNLV an 8-6 advantage. After GCU trimmed the deficit to 8-7 in the bottom half, UNLV delivered the knockout blow in the sixth inning. With two runners aboard, Drew Barragan crushed a towering three-run home run to deep center field, extending the lead to 11-7. The Rebels weren't done, adding another run on a hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded to push the margin to five.
Grand Canyon managed one run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly, but UNLV answered once more in the seventh when Garcia drove in Barragan with an RBI double to cap the scoring at 13-8. From there, the Rebels' bullpen settled in. After allowing runs in each of the first three innings, UNLV's Yates Bland shut out the Lopes over the final four frames, stranding multiple runners and preserving the five-run lead.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
-Jayden Hertel led the way with a 3-for-4 night with his second home run of the season, two singles and four RBI.
-Ryan Marton collected the win in relief as the right-hander went 2.0 innings where he allowed two hits, one run (no earned runs) with two walks and three strikeouts.
-Yates Bland collected his first save of the season after pitching the final 3.1 innings striking out four batters with one earned run and no walks allowed.
-Drew Barragan extended his on-base streak to 18 games with his three-run home run, his team-leading eighth of the season, and walked twice.
-Cooper Sheff collected his seventh home run of the seasonÂ
-Ayden Garcia posted his eighth multi-hit game of the season.
-Jonny Rodriguez was hit by a pitch twice and is tied for the team lead with 11 hit by pitches.
UP NEXT: UNLV will look to win the series as they face the Lopes of Grand Canyon on Saturday at 6 pm followed by the series finale on Sunday at 12 pm.
