Sports briefs for April 4, 2005

Monday, April 4, 2005 | 9:28 a.m.

Parraz lifts UNLV in Sunday slugfest

With gusting winds ranging from 20-35 miles per hour, Zeke Parraz's three-run home run in the seventh inning lifted UNLV to a 16-15 win against San Diego State in a wild game Sunday at Earl E. Wilson Stadium.

At one point in the game the Rebels owned a 9-0 lead but were down 14-13 when Parraz stepped up to the plate against SDSU reliever Will Miller with two men on. Parraz then drilled his first home run of the year off the top of the right-center fence for a 16-14 UNLV lead.

Parraz, a senior shortstop, then slammed the door on an Aztecs rally in the top of the ninth, making two strong throws from short to first on ground balls after SDSU had scored a run to creep within one.

UNLV reliever Matt Wagner (2-2) picked up the win and Kyle Tabeek earned his third save for the Rebels (14-18 overall, 8-1 Mountain West Conference). Miller (0-2) took the loss for SDSU (7-20, 2-4).

Aztecs topple Rebels

The 40th-ranked UNLV men's tennis team saw its hopes for a first-ever regular-season Mountain West Conference title fade away with a 5-2 loss at San Diego State.

UNLV (13-6, 1-2) was strong at the top, winning both No. 1 singles and doubles. But the Aztecs (10-5, 3-0) won the other two doubles matches for a 1-0 lead on the way to their sixth consecutive match win.

Rebels senior Henner Nehles continued his bid for MWC player of the year honors by upsetting 43rd-ranked Benedikt Stronk 7-6, 6-2. Nehles remained perfect against league opponents this spring and now stands 23-8 overall.

UNLV's other point came at court two, where Joel Kielbowicz rolled Markus Dickhardt 6-2, 6-1 to improve his record to 18-8.

BYU Dixie Classic begins today

The UNLV women's golf team will wrap up its regular season at the BYU Dixie Classic as the Rebels attempt to win their third consecutive title at the tournament in St. George.

The tournament opened today with teams playing 36 holes beginning at 7 a.m. at par-72, 6,150-yard Entrada Golf Club at Snow Canyon.

Tuesday's final round will also begin at 7 a.m. with the clubs playing 18 holes to close out the classic.

Leading the Rebels will be junior Elena Kurokawa, who was named the Mountain West Conference Golfer of the Month for the second time in a row last week.

Kurokawa has carded three consecutive top-10 finishes with a recent fourth-place finish at the UNLV Invite. The rest of UNLV's lineup will include Seema Sadekar, Young Pak, Hwanhee Lee and Allison Chell.

-- Sun staff reports