By Brandon Judd
UNLV advanced to the semifinals of the Mountain West Conference Baseball Championship with a 5-3 victory over Utah on Thursday afternoon at Franklin Covey Field.
The Rebels jumped on top early with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning on a sacrifice fly and an RBI double.
UNLV (31-26), the No. 1 seed in the tournament, added another run in the fifth and two more in the sixth.
The Utes (19-35) scored three runs in the eighth, but couldn?t finish off the rally as they stranded two men in scoring position in the ninth inning.
JC Sibley and Ryan Bird led the Rebels offensively, recorded two RBI a piece. Chris Bonnell also had an RBI.
Matt Luca earned the victory on the mound, pitching seven strong innings while striking out seven and giving up just three hits and no runs.
Utah?s Jason Price was credited with the loss, giving up 11 hits and five runs ? only three earned ? in seven innings of work.
With the loss, Utah fell into the losers bracket and will play the winner of the New Mexico/San Diego State game played Thursday. Game time is 11 a.m. today.
Wednesday?s late action
New Mexico 11, Air Force 9: The Lobos stayed alive in the MWC tournament by eliminating the Falcons in the losers bracket.
New Mexico rallied with five runs in the seventh inning to take the lead after Air Force had opened up a 9-6 lead after five innings.
New Mexico?s Petr Pacas earned the win, while Air Force?s Paul Vignola was credited with the loss.
