UNLV loses to UNR, bumped from Mountain West tourney

Joshua Zamora hit two home runs and drove in three runs, helping UNR eliminate top-seeded UNLV 7-3 on Friday in the Mountain West baseball tournament in San Diego.

The loss ended the regular season for the Rebels (36-22), who lost their first two games in the tournament. They now wait until the Monday announcement to see if they can earn an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament.

UNLV finished the conference season with a 21-9 record, but lost to fifth-seeded Air Force 5-2 on Thursday and then fell behind to second-seeded UNR 6-0 before the Rebels could scrap together any offense.

The Rebels cut the lead in half in the seventh inning on Hank Zeisler’s RBI single and Eric Bigani’s two-run single. Zamora extended the lead in the ninth on Zamora’s second homer.

UNLV starter Josh Ibarra (6-2) lasted 2⅓ innings, allowing four runs on six hits while facing 14 batters.

UNR starter Kade Morris (7-5) pitched 8⅔ innings and allowed 8 hits, two walks and struck out five. Reliever Tyler Cochran earned the save after the Rebels got two runners on, inducing Santino Panaro to ground into a fielder’s choice to end the game.