<![endif]--> <![endif]-->

BAKERSFIELD, Calif.— No. 21 UNLV (14-3) jumped out to an 8-0 lead and held off a furious late CSU Bakersfield (10-6) rally to defeat the Roadrunners 8-6 Tuesday night at Hardt Field.

Joey Armstrong's RBI ground out in the top of the second gave the Rebels a 1-0 lead. Brandon Bayardi's single in the third plated T.J. White. UNLV added a run in the sixth.  Before scoring three in the seventh with two outs. Two of those runs came on a home run from Bayardi. The Rebels would score twice in the eighth.

The Roadrunners sent 11 batters to the plate in the eighth, taking advantage of two UNLV errors as CSUB scored six times. CSU Bakersfield got two RBI's from Kevin Younger (Sr., Bakersfield, Calif., Liberty HS) and single RBI's from Tyler Shyrock (Jr., Tehachapi, Calif., Desert Christian HS), Oscar Sanay (Jr., Chula Vista, Calif., Bonita Vista HS), and Chance Gusbeth (Fr., Lancaster, Calif., Desert Christian HS) during the inning.

Shyrock led off the bottom of the ninth with a single but was forced out at second on a Sanay grounder. UNLV's third pitcher of the night, Andrew Beresford, got Cael Brockmeyer (Jr., Vineyard Haven, Mass., Avon Old Farms HS) to ground into a 5-4-3 double play to end the game. 

UNLV starter Mark Shannon went the first seven, allowing five hits. Shannon struck out six Roadrunners in a row at point and ended the night with eight K's. Beresford got the save, tossing the final 1.1 innings.

Bayaridi led the Rebels by going 3-for-5. Shyrock tallied four of the 10 CSUB hits. Brockmeyer and Younger both posted two hits.

CSUB opens a four game series against future WAC opponent Northern Colorado Friday at 6 p.m.

~www.GoRunners.com~