Reuss delivers in clutch to lift Rebels past UNR

Victoria Sun

Monday, Feb. 11, 2002 | 10:42 a.m.

UNLV made sure Nevada-Reno's plane ride home Sunday was about as pleasant as eating airplane food for breakfast.

With the bases loaded, Jason Reuss smacked Bryan Johnson's 2-2 pitch to right field, scoring Garett Shitanishi to lift the Rebels to a dramatic 10-9 victory at Earl E. Wilson Stadium after three hours and 57 minutes of play.

"He came back with a fastball in the end that he probably left over the plate more than he wanted it to be," Reuss said. "I was thinking just put it in the air."

Reuss' game-winning RBI that capped a two-run ninth for the Rebels was as much about redemption as it was about helping his teammates.

In the sixth inning, the right fielder dropped what looked like a routine fly ball, allowing the Wolf Pack to score one run. He also popped up a bunt with two men on and no outs with UNLV trailing 9-8 in the eighth.

"I was hoping to get that at-bat," Reuss said. "I wanted it bad."

Reuss finished 2-for-5 with one run scored while designated hitter David Trujillo went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and four RBIs.

UNLV won its second straight and took two out of three games against UNR, improving to 4-2 while the Wolf Pack dropped to 3-3.

"I told our guys before the game started that this was going to be a dogfight," UNLV head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. "I thought our kids were going to compete until the end and we did."

Rebel pitcher Courtney Hall made his first start of the year. He had surgery last season to remove bone chips in his arm.

Hall cruised through the first two innings, got the first two outs of the second inning, then surrendered four consecutive hits before being relieved by David Seccombe, who pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings.

"He's competitive," Schlossnagle said of Hall. "He threw a lot of strikes and had good command of his pitches.

"I think he got tired and it was totally my fault those three runs were scored because I didn't get him out quick enough."

Reliever Joe Maruffi allowed one hit and struck out three in two innings for his first win.

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