Utah Tech dropped its fourth-straight in heartbreaking fashion as UNLV walked off with a 6-5 victory on Tuesday night at Earl E. Wilson Stadium.
The Trailblazers (8-23) drew first blood with a three-run second inning, with all three runs coming with two outs.
Ethan He cracked the scoreboard with an RBI-single, which was followed three pitches later by a two-run
Ethan Royal base hit.
The early run support bolstered a strong start by junior southpaw
Carston Herman (ND), who struck out two and limited the Rebels to two runs (one earned) and four hits over his five solid innings of work.
However UNLV (16-15) would wrestle the lead away in the sixth against the Blazer bullpen to take its first lead of the night at 4-3.
Utah Tech answered the Rebel rally with two runs of its own in the seventh on the strength of consecutive RBI-doubles from
Hank Dodson and
Hunter Katschke, the latter of which put the Trailblazers back on top at 5-4.
In the UNLV ninth, former Trailblazer and current UNLV outfielder
Parker Schmidt was plunked to lead off the frame. Then after a strikeout and an infield single, Isaac Rodriguez drove a 3-2 pitch to the gap in right center, which chased home both Rebel base runners and ended the game.
The Trailblazers lost despite outhitting UNLV 12-8, with eight of the nine Utah Tech hitters in the starting line-up collecting at least one base knock.
He led the way with his first three-hit game of the season to go with his RBI and two runs scored, while
Aaron Perez and
Garrett Cutting each had two hits apiece.
The Trailblazers and Rebels will wrap up their brief two-game midweek series on Wednesday afternoon beginning at 2:05 p.m. (PT).
