Wednesday, March 26, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
The wise man who said there is no such thing as winning ugly must have had the UNLV baseball team in mind.
The Rebels, who had lost three of their last four games, won less than artistically by downing Loyola Marymount 10-9 in front of 252 at Earl E. Wilson Stadium Tuesday night.
Third baseman Ryan Hankins paced 17-14 UNLV with the 70th multihit game of his 145-game college career. Hankins, a three-time All-American, slammed two doubles, a single and walked twice to finish 3-for-3 with four runs scored.
"We really needed to get on a nice win streak," Hankins said. "We usually win a game and come back and lose one or two. We can't do that now. We need to put together another nine-game streak like we did earlier in the year.
"We're capable of winning a lot of games. It's time to show everyone we're for real."
Rebel reliever Jarrett Scott pitched four masterful innings, giving up just one run on one hit while striking out three to move his record to 2-1.
No one was more relieved to chalk a victory than first-year coach Rod Soesbe. In his mind, Tuesday's game was a must win.
"Things haven't been going our way and when that happens you hope you can weather the storm until it ends," he said. "This win needs to get us jump started for this weekend and the rest of the season."
UNLV was hurt by errors in its two losses in Utah last weekend and made two more against LMU.
"We need to execute better or come May we'll be sitting home instead of playing in the WAC tournament," Soesbee said.
If the season ended today, UNLV would be on the outside looking in as the seventh-place team. Six teams will be invited to the WAC tournament at the newly constructed Tony Gwynn Stadium at San Diego State.
First things first, says Hankins.
"We have to play Loyola Marymount (tonight) first," Hankins said. "San Diego State is coming in this weekend and that's a huge series for us. Post-season is the furthest thing from my mind right now."
The Rebels battle the Aztecs Saturday through Monday in a pivotal WAC series.
UNLV took control of a 4-4 game against 11-19 LMU with a four-run fourth inning keyed by former Durango High standout Ryan Ludwick's three-run homer.
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