Slumping Rebels fall to UNR in opener of Coors Classic

The harder UNLV's baseball program tries to dig out of its hole, the deeper it seems to get. Now the Rebels find their season in jeopardy of getting buried.

UNLV was beaten by Nevada-Reno 9-5 Thursday night in the teams' first game of the Coors Desert Classic at Wilson Stadium. The Rebels fell to 3-10.

"It's discouraging to go out and lose ... I don't even know how many games in a row," outfielder Chris Adolph said. The Rebels have lost five in a row and nine of their last 10. "We're in a slump as a whole.

"We're looking to put something together. Our team goal was to go to the (NCAA) Regionals. To do that, we can't have this many losses this early in the season."

UNLV is scheduled to play Clemson tonight at 5 p.m. It will be the second half of a doubleheader for the Tigers, who also will face Creighton at 1:30 p.m. Washington took on UNR at 10 a.m.

Western High grad Andy McCulloch (1-1) turned in one of the Rebels' better pitching performances of the year Thursday night even though he allowed seven earned runs on 14 hits and one walk. He struck out six.

But UNLV's offense couldn't capitalize on six UNR errors, including one that loaded the bases in the eighth inning.

UNR starter Chad Qualls (4-0) gained the win, allowing three earned runs on eight hits and a walk against six strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings. Reliever Scott Albin picked up his second save of the season.

"We just didn't hit with men in scoring position," Rebel coach Rod Soesbe said.

UNR's Joe Inglett extended his hitting streak to 31 games with an RBI double to ignite a four-run third. Don Price belted his first home run of the season, a two-run shot over the 400-foot sign in center field, in the inning to make the score 5-0.

UNLV got on the scoreboard when third baseman Nate Kaup led off the fourth inning with his second home run of the season.

After the Wolf Pack plated a pair of runs in the fifth inning, Kaup added another RBI in the bottom half with a single to score Matt Stoner from second base, cutting the lead to 7-2.

McCulloch pitched himself out of disaster in the seventh inning. After loading the bases without recording an out, McCulloch retired the next three batters to keep the Rebels within striking distance.

UNLV's offense -- with the help of a generous UNR defense -- responded by scoring three runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh.

But the Wolf Pack extended its lead in the eighth. With two outs, Lyle Overbay doubled off Rebel reliever Joe Maruffi and came home on Price's single to make the score 8-5.

The Rebels were at a disadvantage when cleanup hitter Tony DeMarco, the team's most productive hitter thus far, left the game after one at-bat (a swinging strikeout) because of a recurring shoulder injury. In only eight games this year, DeMarco is hitting .364 with a team-high 14 RBIs.

In the early games, Washington split a doubleheader. Creighton scored nine runs in the eighth and ninth innings but lost to the Huskies 16-12. Washington then rallied with four runs in the final two innings only to lose to Clemson 13-12.

UNR 9, UNLV 5

Nevada-Reno014 020 011 -- 9 19 6UNLV000 110 300 -- 5 8 1

Qualls, Albin (7) and Ortiz; McCulloch, Maruffi (8) and Hamill. W--Qualls (4-0). L--McCulloch (0-2). Sv--Albin (2). E--UNR: Maguire 3, Ri. Wiens 2, Martin; UNLV: Ludwick. DP--UNLV 1. LOB--UNR 11, UNLV 12. 2B--UNR: Overbay 2, Martin, Inglett, Ri. Wiens; UNLV: Hamill. 3B--UNR: Ri. Wiens. HR--UNR: Price (1), Nickerson (1); UNLV: Kaup (2). SB--UNR: Ri. Wiens, Martin, Price; UNLV: Adolph, Ludwick, Gillette. CS--UNLV: Seybert. SF--UNR: Ortiz. A--545. T--2:50.

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