Rebel baseball concluded their series against the Air Force Falcons Sunday afternoon, dropping their first game in 9 games.
Led by a great offensive performance in games one and two, the Rebels took the weekend series by sweeping the double header on Saturday.
The Rebels took game one 12-9, jumping out to an early eight run lead over the Falcons. Air Force would begin to mount a comeback in the fifth inning, scoring five runs off of five hits, however it would not be enough as Brendan Brooks would score off a sac fly from Diego Alarcon. Edarian Williams also hit a solo home run to pad the lead in the eighth inning.
Game two saw the Falcons and Rebels all tied up at three in the fourth inning. However, a wild pitch started a scoring frenzy. UNLV would score six unanswered runs to pull away.
Air Force would score one more time, but UNLV added two more insurance runs in the seventh and eight innings to put the game away 11-4.
Sunday’s contest gave the Rebels a chance to get revenge and sweep Air Force at home, after they were swept by the Falcons in Colorado earlier this season.
The Rebels got off to a rocky start in game three, after Air Force took an early 5-0 lead in the first three innings.
Austin Kryszczuk would put the Rebels on the board in the bottom of the fourth, with an RBI single that scored Edarian Williams.
The Falcons and Rebels each scored two runs a piece in the fifth, keeping the deficit at four runs.
Air Force would add an additional run in the sixth, and shut out the Rebels in the home side of the frame.
UNLV got that run back in the bottom of the seventh, thanks to a Jack-Thomas Wold solo homer. Myles Denson then hit a two run home run in the eighth to cut the Rebels deficit down to just two runs, entering into the ninth inning.
A defensive stand set UNLV up with a chance to complete the comeback in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Two quick outs started the inning for the Rebels, seeing Brendan Brooks take a fly out to lead off the frame, followed by a Diego Alarcon ground out to third base.
Wold stepped into the batter's box as UNLV’s last hope, but a fly ball would end the game.
"We were chasing them from the start,” Head Coach Stan Stutle said. “We out-scored them late but they got off to a good start.”
The Rebels have plenty of takeaways from this series, as they prepare for their road trip to Reno to face off against the rival Wolf Pack next weekend. The Rebels begin their series Saturday May 8 in a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m PST, and will close out the series Sunday May 9 at 1 p.m PST.
"It’s going to be a challenging series,” Coach Stutle said. “They’re playing a lot better than they were earlier in the year.”
Even though the winning streak is over, the Rebels will keep their heads held high as they enter the home stretch of the season.
"It’s hard to win two games in a row, it’s not easy in college baseball,” Coach Stutle said. “We’re always proud of our guys doing that.”
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