Rebels face tough road after loss to No. 6 TCU

After two upset victories in the Mountain West Conference baseball tournament, UNLV met its match Thursday.

Kyle Winkler struck out 12, walked none and pitched a complete game while leading sixth-ranked Texas Christian to a 5-2 victory over the Rebels at San Diego State.

Fifth-seeded UNLV (29-28) was coming off victories over fourth-seeded Brigham Young and second-seeded New Mexico but never led against the top-seeded Horned Frogs, the tournament's only remaining unbeaten team.

The Rebels will play New Mexico again at 3 p.m. today, with the winner advancing to the 7 p.m. championship against TCU (45-11). If another game is needed, it would be at 1 p.m. Saturday.

UNLV managed nine hits off Winkler and tied the game at 2 after falling behind 2-0 in the first inning, but TCU went back ahead with a two-run fifth.

The Horned Frogs are making their fourth appearance in the championship round in their five seasons in the MWC.

"Holding a team like that to five runs is all you can ask for, and tonight we needed to score six runs," Rebels coach Buddy Gouldsmith said. "It was a case of not getting the timely hit or making the plays on defense. If you are going to beat a good team like that, you need to make all the plays."

UNLV scored in the fourth inning when Cash Thomas' single brought home Brandon Bayardi and in the fifth when Hunter Beaty led off with a triple and scored on a groundout.

Beaty, Thomas and Nolan Clark had two hits each. Joe Weik and Jason Coats had two apiece for TCU.