UNLV baseball team’s rally falls short against San Diego State

If UNLV is to turn around its baseball season, the Rebels are going to have to fight to do so.

If Friday night was any indication, the Rebels have plenty of fight in them.

But after UNLV spent the game clawing its way back in, San Diego State took it back with two runs on a pair of two-out doubles in the ninth inning to defeat the Rebels 7-5 at Wilson Stadium.

It was a tough loss for UNLV (12-12, 2-8 Mountain West), which needs to win the series against first-place San Diego State (20-6, 8-2) to have a realistic chance to establish some momentum in what has been a disappointing start to the season.

The Rebels get two more chances against San Diego State, with games at 2:05 p.m. today and 1:05 p.m. Sunday. If the Rebels lose either of those games, that leaves the league tournament in late May in Reno as their only hope to reach the postseason for the second year in a row.

“Tomorrow’s game’s extremely important,” UNLV coach Tim Chambers said.

Not all was bad news for UNLV.

Catcher Erik VanMeetren tied an NCAA record by reaching base 18 times in a row, equaling the mark set by Cal State Northridge’s Shaun Larkin in 2002. VanMeetren also set a UNLV record with his 10th consecutive hit, breaking the mark set by JC Sibley, who had nine in a row in May 2005.

“I’m trying to keep it simple,” said VanMeetren, who went 3-for-3 with a double, home run and two RBIs. “I’m not trying to do too much. I’m just not going to swing at bad pitches right now.”

This game, however, was as much about team as it was individual, with the Rebels rallying from a 5-1 deficit in the second inning. Relievers Cody Roper and Joey Lauria then shut down the Aztecs’ hitting to give UNLV’s offense a chance.

VanMeetren, who doubled in a run in the first inning, hit a solo homer to left in the fourth to bring UNLV within 5-2. The Rebels then scored two runs in the fifth and one in the eighth to make the score 5-5.

Chambers sent out Lauria in the top of the ninth rather than go to Zack Hartman or Brayden Torres. Lauria had retired all seven batters he faced, and Chambers figured he was on a roll. That thinking was justified when Lauria struck out the first two hitters.

He came close to getting a third strike on the third batter and getting out of the inning, but the pitch was called a ball and he wound up walking Seby Zavala. Chambers said he wished he would have removed Lauria at that moment, but stuck with the right-hander.

“I screwed it up,” Chambers said. “But I still feel like Joey struck that guy out.”

Andrew Brown then hit a line drive that UNLV shortstop Nick Rodriguez appeared to misplay. Zavala didn’t hesitate rounding third base, but Rodriguez was unaware he was heading to home plate, and by the time he realized what had happened, his relay throw was late.

Chambers didn’t lay all the blame on Rodriguez, saying his teammates didn’t communicate with him to make a quick relay.

‘They were watching the play when they should’ve been watching the runner and talking,” Chambers said.

Now the Rebels have to bounce back today.

Their season is on the line.

“We’re at the point right now where we need to win ballgames,” Lauria said. “So if we’re disappointed about this tomorrow, we’ve got to get over it because we’ve got a new ballgame tomorrow. Anything can happen tomorrow.

“But we’ll move on from it. We’ve got a good ballclub. We’ll be all right.”

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