Rebels show no quit, cap sweep of Aztecs

UNLV baseball coach Tim Chambers can’t answer why his team doesn’t get frazzled when it falls behind.

All he knows is he can count on his players to produce when most needed.

They came through again Sunday, with Erik VanMeetren sending a two-out double to the left-center-field wall in the eighth inning to drive in two runs and propel the Rebels to a 5-2 victory over San Diego State at Wilson Stadium.

Backing Kenny Oakley’s complete-game nine-hitter, VanMeetren’s tiebreaking hit sparked UNLV to its 14th come-from-behind victory and a sweep of the three-game series.

“We have the ability to come back,” Chambers said. “I don’t know what it is. I’m not teaching it. It’s effort and energy I get from my guys every day that allows us to do that, and we’ve done it a whole bunch.”

The sweep was the Rebels’ third of the season, and it was especially important after they lost two of three games at home to UNR the prior weekend. The Rebels are 27-12 and alone in the second place in the Mountain West at 11-7, trailing New Mexico (14-4 in league play).

Chambers said he believes a second seed in the conference with a record of 15 games over .500 should get the Rebels an at-large bid to an NCAA regional. Finishing in the top two also would get them a first-round bye in next month’s conference tournament at Fresno State.

But UNLV still has plenty of work left, and it doesn’t get easier with a trip Wednesday to No. 9 Arizona State, followed by a three-game weekend series at New Mexico. The Rebels play 10 of their final 15 regular-season games on the road.

“We can’t go on a skid where we get dumped three times on the road,” Chambers said. “That’ll kill us.”

Pitching keyed the series against San Diego State (19-20, 10-8). UNLV won 9-8 in 17 innings on Friday, shutting out the Aztecs over the final 11 innings. Then on Saturday, Buddy Borden pitched 8 2/3 solid innings of a 4-3 victory.

Oakley (4-2) went the full nine Sunday, allowing one earned run. The right-hander threw 130 pitches, 84 for strikes.

“Especially with (Erick) Fedde and Borden, the way they’re throwing ... they give you a chance to win any game you play,” Oakley said. “So that puts pressure on me. I want to be like that, too. I want people to think when I’m on the mound, we have a chance to win any game we’re in.”

Aztecs right-hander Philip Walby (1-3) mostly matched Oakley, entering the eighth having allowed just two runs.

Walby gave up three runs in that inning, all unearned because of a one-out error by Aztecs shortstop Evan Potter that allowed Brandon Bayardi to reach. But Walby didn’t help himself by walking Justin Jones with two outs, bringing VanMeetren to the plate.

“I just saw the ball pretty well today,” said VanMeetren, who was 3-for-4 with three RBIs. “(Walby) executed pitches very well. He mixed it up. He kept it down in the zone, but he left a couple of fastballs up for me, and I took advantage of them.”

VanMeetren drilled a double, allowing Bayardi and Jones to score. One batter later, Patrick Armstrong drove in VanMeetren.

Now the Rebels hit the road for some critical games, hoping they’ve gained momentum with their first series victory over the Aztecs since 2008 and first sweep of them since 2007.

“I said before the season until we beat New Mexico and San Diego State, we’re really not where we need to be or want to be,” Chambers said. “It’s been a long time since UNLV’s won a series against San Diego State.”

Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow him on Twitter: @markanderson65.