LAS VEGAS – San Diego State baseball held the UNLV offense in check for the first four innings on Sunday at Earl E. Wilson Stadium, but the Rebels scored eight times from the fifth inning on and defeated the Aztecs 8-1 to earn a three-game series sweep.
San Diego State is now 25-15, 17-13 in Mountain West action and the Rebels are 19-11, 14-10 in league play. UNLV has vaulted itself from fourth place, at the start of the weekend, into second place in the conference standings while at the same time SDSU finds itself falling from first to fourth place. With no Mountain West tournament to decide which team will get the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, SDSU has just two series remaining, on the road at Air Force and at New Mexico, to try to get back to the top of the standings.
San Diego State used four pitchers in the game. Starter Brian Leonhardt was solid through four innings scattering four hits, but in the top of the fifth he ran into trouble. He walked the leadoff batter and then gave up a single. The next batter, Jack-Thomas Wold (3-for-4, 2R, 3RBI, 3B, HR), then laced a triple down the right field line to plate both runners and stake the Rebels to a 2-0 lead. That hit spelled the end of the day for Leonhardt (1-2) who would be tagged with the loss. He pitched 4.0 innings allowing six hits, was saddled with three runs, all earned, while walking two and hitting a batter.
Ricky Tibbett would finish the fifth for Leonhardt and pitch the next three innings giving up two runs on three hits with five strikeouts. He hit two batters, neither of which came around to score.
San Diego State pushed its run across in the top of the eighth. Carson Matthews (1-for-3, R) got a one-out single followed by a Ryan Orr pinch hit single. However, Orr was cut down trying to stretch his hit into a double. Mike Jarvis (2-for-4, RBI, 2B) doubled to score Mathews and make it a 5-1 game after seven and a half innings.
In the UNLV eighth, Kelena Sauer took over on the mound for SDSU, walked the first two batters he faced and was lifted in favor of Christian Winston. After a flyout and a wild pitch, which moved the two runners into scoring position, UNLV got a two-run RBI single from Eric Bigani and two batters later a sacrifice fly plated the Rebels final run and made it 8-1.
UNLV starter Josh Sharman (1-3) went the distance to earn the win. He gave up seven hits, two for extra bases including Jarvis' RBI double, while striking out six and did not walk a batter.
RUDICK STILL STREAKING
With a single in his first at bat, junior center fielder Matt Rudick wasted no time in extending his streak of games in which he has reached safely to 37, which covers every game in which he has recorded a plate appearance this season. In addition, he has hit safely in 17 of his last 18 contests.
LEONHARDT EXTENDED
In tossing season-highs of 4.0 innings and 75 pitches, redshirt sophomore Brian Leonhardt surpassed his previous high of 3.1 and 57 pitches, which he achieved in his last outing, against San Jose State on May 9. His four innings pitched also matched his career-high which came against Long Beach State on March 3, 2020.
UP NEXT
San Diego State returns to the diamond for a three-game set at Air Force on May 22-23. Game one of Saturday's doubleheader is set for a first pitch at 10 a.m. (PT).
Aztecs Can't Avoid Sweep At UNLV
