Wednesday, March 19, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
The look of disgust on the face of UNLV baseball coach Rod Soesbe told the story.
Plagued by mental miscues, the Rebels dropped a non-conference matchup with intrastate rival Nevada-Reno 7-5 in front of 226 fans at Wilson Stadium.
Chris Humphries, the UNLV starter, never found his groove. He allowed six runs in 3 2/3 innings in dropping his record to 2-1.
The Rebels (15-12 overall, 3-3 Western Athletic Conference) staged a late rally, scoring two runs in both the sixth and seventh innings to draw close, but came up short due to baserunning errors.
Three Rebels were caught stealing, two during scoring situations.
After singling in the third inning, second baseman Clay Belding missed a sign from third base coach Jim Pace and was gunned down at second.
In the eighth with one out, catcher Bobby McNeil reached on a fielder's choice and was replaced by pinch-runner Kevin Mellinger. Mellinger also misread a signal and was thrown out at second base to end another scoring threat.
"We got behind early and were never able to recover," Soesbe said. "We failed to execute throughout the whole game. When you continue to miss signs, you're not going to win many games.
"We're at the point in the season when you better know what the signs are. There's no excuse for that lack of concentration."
UNR coach Gary Powers agreed, but also felt his Wolf Pack (19-8, 5-1 Big West) won a hard-fought game.
"They may have had some running mistakes but we just played them well," Powers said. "They're a good club but we have a solid team, and when we play well, we can beat anyone."
Right fielder Lyle Overbay led the Wolf Pack by going 4-for-5 with three RBI.
The Rebels' Ryan Hankins was 3-for-4 with two RBI and a triple. Junior Jarret Scott also pitched three innings of hitless relief, striking out four.
UNLV has lost six of its last eight games and travels to Utah to continue WAC play Friday. The Rebels return to Wilson Stadium next Tuesday against Loyola Marymount.
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