UNLV roundup: Smith, Godman power baseball victory
Max Smith went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer, a double and three runs to lead UNLV past UC Santa Barbara 9-8 in a nonconference baseball game Wednesday at Wilson Stadium.
Freshman Jacob Godman hit a three-run triple in the fifth inning and an RBI single in the second for the Rebels (3-2), who led 9-4 after five innings.
Tommy Jew had a triple, a double, two runs and an RBI for the Gauchos (2-2), who held a 13-10 edge in hits but left 11 runners on base.
Jew made the final out, capping an 11-pitch at-bat with a comebacker to reliever Jackson Cofer with the tying run on third base.
Ryan Hare (1-0), the second of five UNLV relievers, shut out UCSB on one hit and no walks and struck out three over three innings.
James Gamble went 2-for-3 with a stolen base and a run, and Bryson Stott had a double and scored twice for the Rebels.
Jason Willow went 3-for-4 with two runs, Eric Yang went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, Christian Kirtley went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run, Kyle Johnson went 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run, and Andrew Martinez had an RBI double and a sacrifice fly for the Gauchos.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
At Cox Pavilion, Marta Gomez had 23 points and seven rebounds to lead Wyoming past the Lady Rebels 64-49 for the Cowgirls’ eighth straight victory.
Bailee Cotton scored 12 points for Wyoming (17-5, 10-3 Mountain West), which shot 52.2 percent and held UNLV (9-16, 7-7) to 35.8 percent in halting the Lady Rebels’ two-game win streak.
Nikki Wheatley had 14 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals for UNLV, which mustered a 13-all tie after one quarter and trailed 30-21 at halftime. The Cowgirls led 53-29 entering the fourth quarter after holding the Lady Rebels to eight points in each of the middle quarters.
Paris Strawther had seven points and six rebounds for UNLV, which had a 35-23 edge in rebounds.
WOMEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING
At Minneapolis, Filio Raftopoulou, Julia Filippova, Lauren Smith and Carissa Armijo placed fifth in the 800-yard freestyle relay in 7 minutes, 17.07 seconds, helping the Rebels to sixth place after three events in the 10-team Mountain West Championships.
Montse Moreno placed seventh in 1-meter diving with a score of 284.70, and Eva Kim, Skylar Moore, Kate Afanasyeva and Caitlyn Schreiber placed eighth in the 200 medley relay in 1:41.17.
UNR leads the team standings with 204 points, followed by San Diego State (178.5), Boise State (152), Fresno State (141) and New Mexico (139.5) in the top five.
UNLV has 118 points, followed by Wyoming (113.5), Colorado State (107.5), Air Force (92) and San Jose State (92).
MEN’S TENNIS
Owen Hambrook, who is 209-159 in his 16th season guiding the Rebels, was named the United States Professional Tennis Association Intermountain College Coach of the Year.
Hambrook, the longest-serving coach in program history, ranks second in wins. Last season saw a Rebel named Mountain West player of the year for a second straight year, as Alexandr Cozbinov gained the league’s automatic NCAA singles tournament bid.
UNLV is off to a 6-1 start in dual matches this season.
CROSS COUNTRY
The Rebels were named an NCAA Division I all-academic team after posting a program-best 3.53 cumulative grade-point average, the United States Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association announced.
UNLV achieved a 3.37 GPA for the fall semester and had six make the Dean’s List: Kennedy Allen, Yamilet Biggers, Grace Moore, Avi’Tal Wilson-Perteete, Elisa Rovere and Kara Smith.
All six had a semester GPA of 3.50 or higher, with Wilson-Perteete posting a 4.00.
WOMEN’S GOLF
Senior Elizabeth Prior was named Mountain West golfer of the week for a second straight week after winning the Rebel Beach Invitational by seven strokes.
A native of Surrey, England, Prior shot 7-under-par 209, which included two rounds of 4-under 68, at Spanish Trail Golf Club for her fourth career victory. She birdied five of her last eight holes and three of her final four.
