Hall’s effort not enough for UNLV baseball

Victoria Sun

Monday, Feb. 25, 2002 | 8:49 a.m.

UNLV starting pitcher Courtney Hall had his best outing of the year Sunday afternoon.

Unfortunately for the senior right-hander, so did UC Santa Barbara sophomore Matt Vasquez.

Hall allowed two runs on five hits and struck out five in seven innings in a 3-2 loss to the Gauchos at Earl E. Wilson Stadium in the final game of the UNLV Tournament.

"For the first time in four or five games, we had a pitcher be the aggressor," UNLV coach Jim Schlossnagle said. "We played good defense and had good pitching, but we didn't have the timely hits that they had."

UNLV finished 2-2 in the tournament, dropping to 6-7.

Hall, who made his third start of the season since having elbow surgery last year, picked up his second loss.

The Rebels posted their two runs in the ninth inning. David Trujillo doubled in Robert VanKirk, and Jason Reuss came through with a pinch-hit RBI single to left off reliever Jared Edrosolan.

Edrosolan got the final out when UNLV third baseman Tony Schuler hit a grounder back to the mound.

Until he faltered in the ninth inning, Vasquez had been on target to pitch the first complete game of his career. He ended up allowing four hits and two runs in 8 2/3 innings for his third win.

After UNLV outfielder Eric Nielsen singled to center in the fourth inning, Vasquez retired the next 11 batters.

"He kept us off-balance with a fastball/slider combination," Nielsen said. "He spotted pitches well. My hat's off to him."

Playing four games in three days gave Schlossnagle a chance to tinker with the team, but the Rebels' schedule doesn't get any easier before Mountain West play begins.

UNLV will go on the road to play in two tournaments the next two weekends against teams including Oklahoma State, Arizona State and Cal State Northridge.