Rebels fall to San Diego State 18-8, eliminated from MW baseball tournament

San Diego State scored 11 unanswered runs, including nine in the eighth inning, to take a 16-5 lead over UNLV en route to a 18-8 victory that eliminated the Rebels from the Mountain West Championship on Thursday in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Tyler Adkison, Spencer Thornton and Jordan Verdon each homered and combined to go 9-for-16 with 10 RBIs and 10 runs scored for the sixth-seeded Aztecs (21-37), who have won 14 straight elimination games at the tournament.

Kenny Oakley (4-9), a Coronado High School product, took the loss for fourth-seeded UNLV (24-32), allowing six runs on eight hits in five innings. Ben Wright gave up six runs on six hits in 1 2/3 innings of relief for the Rebels, who were routed 15-7 by fifth-seeded Air Force in Wednesday’s tournament opener.

Three-time defending tournament champion San Diego State beat seventh-seeded San Jose State 7-3 on Wednesday in a play-in game.

UNLV, which never led, scored two runs in the fourth to tie it 5-5. San Diego State went ahead for good in the fifth on a solo shot by Thornton and added a run in the sixth before exploding in the eighth, when Verdon hit a two-run blast.

Cody Howard had a team-high four hits for the Rebels, Cooper Esmay went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and Kyle Isbel, Payton Squier and A.J. VanMeetren added two hits apiece.

The Rebels were outscored 33-15 and outhit 45-23 in their two tournament games.