April 9, 2000
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State baseball team lost its fourth straight game when it fell, 8-3 to UNLV on Sunday in Las Vegas.
As was the story for the entire series, the Rebel pitchers were able to get out of tough situations and limit the Aztec offense. SDSU (20-20 overall, 8-7 Mountain West Conference) banged out 11 hits on the game, but a lack of timely hitting resulted in the Aztecs stranding eight men on base. SDSU had no one to blame but itself, committing 3 costly errors which led to two unearned runs.
The Aztecs enjoyed a brief lead when third baseman John Pashales scored on a bunt single by left fielder Andy Litteral in the top of the third, but it didn't take UNLV (10-25 overall, 3-10 MWC) long to answer. The Rebels tied the game when designated hitter Nate Kaup -- who reached base on an error by Pashales -- scored on a single by left fielder Michael Ford in the bottom of the fourth.
UNLV took the lead for good when first baseman Trent Kitsch blasted his third home run in as many days -- a two-run shot over the right field fence -- off Rory Shortell in the fifth. The Rebels added three more in the sixth and an additional two in the seventh to put the game away.
Once again, the top half of the SDSU lineup turned in a solid performance, as center fielder Billy Montgomery and left fielder Andy Litteral had two hits apiece, while first baseman Ben Leuthard went 3-for-4 and hit his second home run of the year in the eighth inning. However, the rest of the lineup combined to go 4-for-23.
Shortell gave up five runs (four earned) in five innings of work to take the loss for the Aztecs, while Justin Fairbanks allowed three runs in seven innings to pick up the win for UNLV.
SDSU returns to action at 5 p.m. on Tuesday when it travels to Los Angeles to take on USC.
UNLV - 8, SDSU - 3
SDSU 001 000 020 - 3 11 3UNLV 000 123 20X - 8 8 0
SDSU - Shortell, Dunwell (6), Ring (7), Skinner (7) and RogersUNLV - Fairbanks, Anderson (8) and Betts
Win - Fairbanks (1-3)Loss - Shortell (3-3)Save - None
2B - SDSU - Ricardy, Pashales3B - UNLV - KaupHR - SDSU - Leuthard (2), UNLV - Kitsch (7)
Attendance - 365