Thursday, March 27, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
The sometimes dormant offensive volcano known as the UNLV baseball team finally erupted as the Rebels pounded Loyola Marymount 21-8.
Wednesday night's 21 runs were the most scored by UNLV this season.
The Rebels (18-14) needed just one inning to dispose of the Lions (11-21), who used five pitchers with little or no success in stopping the UNLV offensive onslaught.
Lions starter Rob Green (2-6) failed to record an out as the Rebels scored eight runs on five hits in the first inning.
The first-inning fireworks were supplied by Kevin Eberwein and Jesse Pryor on back-to-back home runs.
Eberwein crushed a 2-2 fastball over the Wilson Stadium scoreboard to give the Rebels a 4-0 lead. Pryor then punished Green by sending his first offering over the left-center field fence as the hitting clinic continued.
"It's funny because I never saw the pitch," Eberwein said. "I'm hitting the ball but I'm not even seeing it. I don't know what my problem is but I need to work it out."
Despite his "problem," Eberwein knocked in a career-high six runs. He was 2-for-6 with one run scored.
UNLV catcher Toby Hall, who struggled at the plate during the first part of the season, hammered out three hits in four at-bats, including a grand slam home run in the fifth that put the Rebels up by 14 runs.
"Coach Soesbe was giving me a hard time before the at-bat," Hall said of his homer. "He told me I was going to get to the plate and try hard to make something happen.
"He bet me lunch that I'd try too hard at the plate since the bases were loaded. Then I hit the pitch out of the yard and just looked in the dugout and smiled at him."
Is Hall going to hold Soesbe to the bet?
"No, he was just trying to motivate me," Hall said.
Soesbe said his large-framed catcher, who has 15 hits in his last 28 at-bats, has come a long way since the beginning of the season.
"Toby is really starting to hit the ball now," Soesbe said.
Despite Hall's hot bat and his team's huge night at the plate, Soesbe still has some concerns about the Rebels' pitching and defense heading into this weekend's pivotal series with San Diego State.
"We scored 21 runs but gave up 14 hits," he said. "We're going to have to work on some things before we take the field this weekend."
The Rebels host the Aztecs Saturday through Monday at Wilson Stadium.
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