FRESNO, Calif. (UNLVRebels.com) - What began as a comfortable day for the UNLV baseball team turned into a heartbreaking collapse Saturday as Fresno State stormed back for a 14-13 victory in a back-and-forth slugfest at Pete Beiden Field at Bob Bennett Stadium.
HOW IT WENT DOWN: The Rebels (28-23, 9-12 MW) built a five-run cushion through the middle innings before the Bulldogs (14-34-1, 3-17-1 MW) exploded for eight runs in the fifth and survived multiple late rallies to even the series. UNLV struck first in the opening inning after Reggie Bussey doubled to right and later scored on Fresno State's second error of the frame. The Rebels threatened again in the second, drawing back-to-back walks, but Fresno State escaped without damage.
The Bulldogs tied the game in the third on Sky Collins' sacrifice fly before UNLV responded with a powerful offensive surge over the next two innings. In the fourth, Gavin Taylor crushed a three-run homer to deep left field, scoring Jonny Rodriguez and Jack Salmon to put the Rebels ahead 4-1. UNLV added two more runs in the fifth as Nin Burns II delivered an RBI single and Jayden Hertel plated another run with a groundout, extending the lead to 6-1.
In the fifth, Fresno State sent 12 batters to the plate and collected seven hits in the inning, turning the game completely around. Collins opened the scoring with an RBI single before Brady Hewitt lined a two-run single up the middle. Owen Faust followed with a two-run single of his own, and Marcus Nolen capped the inning with a towering three-run homer to left field that suddenly gave the Bulldogs a 9-6 advantage. The Rebels struggled to answer immediately, going scoreless in the sixth and seventh while Fresno State added two solo home runs in the seventh from Michael Boyd and Faust to stretch the margin to 11-6.
In the eighth, Salmon launched a two-run homer to right field to cut the deficit to three, and after Gunnar Myro singled and Bussey walked, Drew Barragan blasted a game-tying three-run homer to deep center field, erasing the deficit and knotting the score at 11-11. In the bottom half of the eighth, Faust struck again with a two-run homer to left field after Hewitt reached on a walk. Later in the inning, Austin Young added an RBI single to restore Fresno State's three-run lead at 14-11.
The Rebels refused to go quietly in the ninth. Rodriguez opened the inning with a solo homer to right, and Hertel later scored on Myro's RBI single to trim the deficit to one. But Fresno State reliever Douglas Crystal retired Bussey on a dropped third strike to end the game with the tying run aboard.
QUOTABLE: "Tough one to lose today, couldn't be prouder offensively, they battled all weekend to the end. Obviously, the bullpen let us down today, was hard to overcome. We still are in it, we have a really solid San Diego State team coming to town, we'll have to play well for any chance of success."
-Head Coach Stan Stolte
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
-Jonny Rodriguez hit five home runs in the series and collected 13 RBI.
-With Drew Barragan's 1-for-5 afternoon, the redshirt senior has now reached base in all 49 games he has played in this season and has an on-base streak of 50 games dating back to his time at Western Kentucky last season.
-Rodriguez, Jayden Hertel and Gunnar Myro recorded a pair of hits apiece.
-13 of Gavin Taylor's 18 hits this season have been extra-base hits, with the catcher hitting his eighth home run of the season.
-Gunnar Myro now has a 13-game hitting streak with his 2-for-5 day.
-Jack Salmon went 1-for-3 with his second home run in as many games.
UP NEXT: UNLV closes out the regular season at home against San Diego State Friday, May 14 through Saturday, May 16. Games one and two will start at 6:05 pm with the series finale scheduled for a 12:05 pm first pitch.
