Rebels’ dormant offense wakes up too late in loss

UNLV baseball coach Tim Chambers was nowhere in sight, and for most of Tuesday night, neither was any semblance of an offense.

Which really isn’t news because the Rebels’ hitters are mired in a funk that threatens to derail a promising season.

Their bats finally got hot in the seventh inning, producing four runs, but by that time Arizona State had taken control in winning 9-5 at Wilson Stadium.

“It’s good we put up four runs, but we’ve got to come out early and hit the ball better,” said UNLV first baseman Patrick Armstrong, who went 3-for-4 with a triple and two runs. “One run in the first six innings isn’t going to do it. We’ve got to hopefully get hot for these last couple of weeks of the year.”

The defeat was a rare home loss for the Rebels, who are 18-3 in their park.

Not so rare these days is a loss anywhere, with UNLV (30-21) having been defeated in six of its past eight games. In that span, the Rebels totaled 24 runs and 63 hits. They produced 39 runs and 55 hits in the three-game pounding of Mountain West leader New Mexico the preceded the current downturn.

“We need to be more aggressive at the plate and get pitches to hit,” said UNLV designated hitter Morgan Stotts, who went 2-for-4 with an RBI. “We’re getting ourselves behind in counts and swinging at tough pitches, like pitchers’ pitches.”

Midweek games, though, often are crapshoots, with down-the-line starting pitchers taking the mound. And with the recent loss of No. 1 pitcher Erick Fedde to impending Tommy John elbow surgery, the Rebels didn’t just reach down to find a starter. They went in with the game plan of using lots of pitchers, and four saw action.

“The only way (Joey) Lauria or Brayden Torres were throwing was if we had a save situation,” UNLV acting coach Stan Stolte said. “This weekend, we’re going to need it.”

John Richy moves into Fedde’s No. 1 spot, and his start at 6:05 p.m. Thursday against UNR should set the tone for the critical three-game series. Bryan Bonnell and Kenny Oakley fill the Nos. 2 and 3 spots in the rotation; Oakley was the usual midweek starter.

“With Erick, that’s a for-sure Friday night win,” Stolte said of what would be a typical weekend schedule. “It’s not that our replacements aren’t fine, but we’re going to have to grind harder and play better. We know that we won’t replace Erick, but that happens to a lot of teams. You can’t use that as an excuse.”

That is an important series because the Rebels need to take momentum into next week’s Mountain West tournament at Wilson Stadium.

They also need to build their NCAA regional resume, which until this skid was in good shape.

UNLV still appears to be a regional team, with a Ratings Percentage Ranking that is 35th and by far the best in the Mountain West, which is considered at least a two-bid league.

The Rebels, just as they were against Arizona State (27-21), will be without Chambers against their heated state rival. Chambers is serving an automatic four-game suspension for bumping an umpire Sunday at San Diego State.

Even if UNLV will be without him, maybe the Rebels’ bats will come around against UNR and the pitching will continue to be solid.

“Once Thursday comes, we’ll forget about everything that happened,” Armstrong said. “We’ll just be focused on that game.

“This (loss to Arizona State) doesn’t matter now. We can’t do anything about the losses. We want to get rolling into the tournament.”

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