Here is a recap of the day two games of the 2015 Mountain West Baseball tournament.
Game 4 - # 5 Air Force 4 #6 UNLV 3 (Final/15 innings)
The first game of day two of the 2015 Mountain West Baseball tournament was one for the record books as the fifth seeded Falcons outlasted the sixth seeded UNLV Rebels 4-3 in 15 innings. It is the most innings ever played in a Mountain West Tournament game and was two innings short of the overall Mountain West record of 17 innings.
UNLV started the scoring in the first inning when Rebels catcher Erik VanMeetren hit a double to bring home a run in the first inning and a sacrifice fly by Payton Squire brought home a run to give the Rebels a 2-0 run lead. In the top of the eigith inning, the Rebels increased the lead to 3-0 when Air Force committed an error to bring home a run.
The Falcons mounted a comeback in the bottom of the eighth when Air Force scored three runs in that inning. The comeback was topped off by Falcons right fielder Spencer Draws when he hit a single which scored two runs to tie the game at 3-3.
When neither team scored in the ninth, the game went into extra innings and before the 11th inning, heavy rain started to fall at Peccole Park which delayed the game for 17 minutes. The game resumed after the rain delay and after two more scoreless innings. the Falcons scored on a bases loaded ground ball that was hit by Tyler Jones in which the Rebels could not field the ball and Falcons center-fielder Adam Groesbeck scored from third base to end the game. Falcons sophomore Jacob DeVries earned the win as he pitched six innings, gave up two hits and struck out four Rebels. Rebels pitcher Blaze Bohall pitched seven innings and gave up three hits and took the loss.
The Rebels are eliminated from the tournament and the Falcons move on to play on Friday at 11 am Pacific time.
Game 5 - #3 Fresno State 15 #2 San Diego State 7
The Bulldogs bats were on fire as Taylor Tempel went 4 for 6 with two doubles and a RBI and his teammate, Manny Argomaniz, went 4 for 4 with a home run and two RBIs as the Bulldogs easily handled the second seeded San Diego State Aztecs 15-7. After leading 1-0 going into the top of the third inning, the Bulldogs scored five runs on six hits to give them a 6-0 lead. The Aztecs tried to make a game out of it by scoring four runs in the fifth inning to cut the Bulldogs lead to 7-5.
However, in the top of the sixth inninng, the Bulldogs extended the lead to 9-5 after Austin Guibor hit a triple and because of a throwing error, Taylor Temple scored. More insurance runs were scored in the eighth for Fresno State as Ward picked up his third RBI of the game when he singled to bring Tempel home. Torin Goldstein picked up three RBIs when he doubled down the line in left field and increased the Bulldogs lead to 13-5. Two more runs came in to make the lead 15-5. The Aztecs tacked on two runs after Steven Pallares hit a two run homer to make it 15-7 which was as close as the Aztecs got.
For the Aztecs, Pallares had a productive day as he had three hits, two RBIs, and scored two runs. Aztecs pitcher Bubba Derby had a rough day as he pitched 5.1 innings while giving up a total of nine runs (three earned) on 11 hits while striking out only three hitters.
The Aztecs are now in the loser's bracket and must win tomorrow in order to avoid elimination while the Bulldogs will play the 7 pm PST game tomorrow night.
Game 6 - #4 New Mexico 14 #1 Nevada 4 (Final/7 Innings)
For the second straight night, the Lobos win on Mercy Rule rules but this time. The Lobos thumped the top seeded Wolf Pack 14-4. The Lobos bats were the story of the game as the Lobos scored five runs on five hits in the top of the fifth (Did you enjoy that alliteration?) to go up 8-1. And in the sixth inning, the Lobos scored five runs again to go up 13-1 and slam the door shut on any Wolf Pack comeback. MWC's Pitcher of the Year from Nevada Christian Stolo was pulled early after giving up three runs on six hits and really struggled tonight.
Lobos pitcher Toller Boardman turned in a very good performance as he pitched six innings striking out six and giving up four runs tonight.
But the story was the Lobos bats as Jack Zoellner went 3 for 5 with a double and two RBIs, Sam Haggerty went 3 for 4 with two doubles and a RBI and Lane Milligan went 2 for 5 with four RBIs and a double. For the Wolf Pack, Jordan Devencenzi provided the offense as he went 3 for 4 with three RBIs.
New Mexico will face Fresno State in the battle of the high powered offenses at 7 pm PST while the Wolf Pack will play the winner of the elimination game between Air Force and San Diego State at 3pm PST. The Air Force/San Diego State game will be at 11am PST.
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Mountain West Baseball Tournament Recap: Day Two
An extra innings game and more offensive fireworks were some of the highlights of the second day of the 2015 mountain West Baseball tournament
By
Brandon_Blake and Don Starks