LAS VEGAS – The Fresno State baseball team roped in another conference series win with back-to-back extra inning victories over the UNLV Rebels.
With the 7-5 win over the Rebels, the Diamond 'Dogs (12-9, 6-4 Mountain West) established their spot in first place in the Mountain West standings, tied with San Jose State.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After a scoreless first inning, the 'Dogs earned the first run of the afternoon after Murph Gray hit his first of three hits and advanced on an error from the Rebel catcher, which gave Bobby Blandford the gateway to score.
The 'Dogs crushed two more hits in the top of the third, including an RBI single from Bobby Blandford that brought Ben Newton home.
After an error and a single, Fresno State allowed UNLV (7-13, 3-5 MW) to score run in the fourth, before ending the inning with a successful pick-off at first base.
Tyler Davis hit his second RBI double of the weekend in the sixth, which drove in Murf Gray and Grady Morgan, who had both singled earlier in the inning.
Through seven innings, starting pitcher Jake Dixon had sped through three straight three-up, three-down innings with six strikeouts and only four hits and one run against him.
Robbie Peters then came relieved him in the bottom of the eighth, with a three-pitch strikeout to start the inning that was followed by another swinging strikeout.
The Rebels' bats began to heat up quickly in the eighth inning, as they scored four runs off of four hits to tie the ballgame at 5-5.
Trevor Garcia took over on the bump and with a scoreless ninth inning, the Diamond 'Dogs and Rebels were once again headed to extra innings.
The 'Dogs kicked off the 11th inning by quickly placing runners on first and second after Travis Welker walked and Nikoh Mitchell singled to centerfield. A wild pitch sent Travis Welker home, trailed closely by an RBI single from Marco Pirrucello, which gave Fresno State a two-run lead.
The Rebel offense was not able to bounce back in the bottom of the 11th, and Trevor Garcia locked in his second win of the season with a final score of 7-5 in favor of the Diamond 'Dogs.
UP NEXT: Fresno State will wrap up the series in Las Vegas tomorrow, March 26 at 12:05 p.m. PT at Earl E. Wilson Stadium.