Fresno State’s ninth-inning hit sends Rebels to baseball loss

Brody Russell’s two-out RBI single in the ninth inning lifted Fresno State to a 4-3 win over UNLV in a Mountain West baseball game Sunday in Fresno, California.

McCarthy Tatum led off the bottom of the ninth with a single off Rebels reliever Ryan Hare (1-1), was sacrificed to second and, one out later, scored on Russell’s hit up the middle as the Bulldogs (13-7, 4-2) won the final two games of the three-game set.

Russell also had an RBI double in the third and finished 3-for-5. Zach Ashford went 3-for-3 with an RBI single in the fourth and scored twice for Fresno State, which held a 10-9 edge in hits.

UNLV (8-10, 3-3) scored all of its runs in the fourth inning, on three walks and consecutive singles by Cody Howard, Kyle Isbel and Max Smith.

Isbel, Payton Squier and Nick Rodriguez each went 2-for-4 for the Rebels.

Dylan Lee (2-1), the third Bulldogs reliever, allowed one hit and struck out two in the final 1 1/3 innings.

UNLV starter Kenny Oakley gave up three runs, two earned, on seven hits and two walks and struck out three in five innings.