UNLV’s baseball postseason options curbed by loss to San Diego State

Erik VanMeetren’s streaks ended in the first inning, Kenny Oakley’s back acted up again in the fourth, and UNLV went all the way to the ninth in a game the Rebels had to have.

But as much as the Rebels tried to overcome the adversity, they couldn’t erase a five-run deficit, and now their season will come down to one week in late May at the Mountain West tournament in Reno.

They will need to win that tournament to advance to a regional for the second year in a row, because hoping for an at-large bid is like wishing for 80 degree days in the summer.

UNLV (12-13, 2-9 MW) needed to win at least two of three from first-place San Diego State (21-6, 9-2) this weekend, but the Aztecs clinched the series with a 7-6 victory Saturday at Wilson Stadium.

They will go for the sweep at 1:05 p.m. today.

“It’s frustrating,” said UNLV third baseman A.J. Hernandez, who was 2-for-3 with a homer and three RBIs. “We have to show up every day and work hard because we can play like this right now, and at the end of the season we can go 10-0 and win the Mountain West tournament and keep carrying on. That’s what happened when we faced UC Irvine. They were unstoppable.”

Irvine was one of the last teams selected for the postseason field last season, but got hot at the right time to advance all the way to the College World Series, beating UNLV in a regional along the way.

VanMeetren knows plenty about getting on a roll. He had tied the NCAA record of 18 consecutive times on base, first set by Cal State Northridge’s Shaun Larkin in 2002, and put together a UNLV-record 10 hits in a row.

Both streaks ended with a first-inning strikeout, but VanMeetren still went 2-for-4 and a walk.

The day ended early for Oakley (2-2), who pitched well despite a bad back. He didn’t allow any hits until Chase Calabuig’s two-out, two-run double in the fourth gave the Aztecs a 2-1 lead, then had to leave the game.

The right-hander first injured his back March 21 after 2 1/3 innings against Northwestern, and how long he would last Saturday was in question.

“I’m pretty confident it’s not anything to worry about, but we’re going to have to skip him a start or whatever until he gets better,” coach Tim Chambers said. “I knew in the first that he wasn’t right because his body language told me that, but he tried to pitch through it and took himself out.”

Oakley wasn’t the only UNLV pitcher who left early. Right-hander Dan Skelly, who relieved Oakley and struck out his only batter to end the fifth, also had to be removed with a sore shoulder.

“Our No. 1 priority right now is to try to get healthy,” Chambers said. “Six pitchers on the shelf, three position guys.

“Injuries are part of the game, but hopefully we can get our bullets back and we’ll be fine. It’s frustrating, so we have to work hard just to stay on the ship and ride it out and try to win some ballgames.”

San Diego State took advantage of UNLV’s bullpen to score four runs in the fifth, including Seby Zavala’s no-doubt-about-it homer to left field for a 6-1 lead.

“It’s how it always is,” VanMeetren said. “They got four in the fifth, and last night they got four in the third. If we can avoid that big inning, hopefully we can get a few more wins.”

UNLV slowly came back, and Hernandez’s two-run homer with no outs in the eighth brought the Rebels to within 7-5. Then it became a one-run deficit when A.J. VanMeetren scored on a single by Joey Swanner and an error by Calabuig in right field. Swanner got caught in a rundown for the second out to effectively end the rally.

The Rebels put two runners on in the ninth, but Hernandez’s fly to deep right ended the threat.

UNLV still has almost two months left in the regular season, then maybe the Rebels can pull off an Irvine. It’s not much of a shot, but it’s their only hope.

“All I can say is we’ll keep fighting,” Chambers said. “I guarantee that.”

Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow him on Twitter: @markanderson65.