Air Force Academy
UNLV
UNLV beats Air Force, 13-1, in game one
5/10/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 10, 2002
UNLV starter Robbie Van pitched a complete game and held Air Force to just one run on eight hits with 11 strikeouts as the Rebels beat Air Force, 13-1, in a Mountain West Conference baseball game Friday night in Las Vegas.
The game was the first of a three-game conference series. UNLV improved to 26-25 overall and 11-14 in the MWC. Air Force's four-game conference winning streak came to an end as the Falcons fell to 25-23 overall and 12-12 and tied for second in the MWC. The Falcons have now won seven of their last nine.
Van held the Falcons to just two hits through the first four innings. Meanwhile, the Rebel offense tagged Falcon starter Matt Kaercher for seven runs on 11 hits in the first four innings. The Rebels scored one in the first on Brent Johnson's double and Joe Wickman's RBI single. UNLV scored three in the fourth on three singles and two Falcon errors for a 7-0 lead.
The Falcons got on the board in the top of the fifth when Nick Liegl doubled to left field and then scored on Josh Phifer's RBI single. The Rebels added two in the sixth and three in the seventh to put the game out of reach.
Rebel shortstop Ryan Ruiz and outfielder Eric Nielsen each went 4-for-5 in the game as UNLV tallied 20 hits off of three Falcon pitchers. Johnson had three hits in the game. David Trujillo had four RBI while Nielsen had three.
Falcon starter Matt Kaercher, who had pitched three straight complete games prior to the UNLV game, was the loser. He went four innings and gave up seven runs, five earned, on 11 hits with one strikeout. Relievers Matt Werner and Josh Wallace each pitched two innings. Werner gave up two runs on three hits while Wallace allowed four runs on six hits.
Third-baseman Bowie Frost posted three of Air Force's eight hits on the evening. He was the only Falcon with more than one hit in the game. The Falcons also made three errors in the game.
Air Force and UNLV play game two of the series Saturday, May 11, at 2 p.m. PST in Las Vegas. The series concludes Sunday, May 12, at 1 p.m. PST.
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