UNLV runs out of comeback magic

Nick Christensen

Monday, June 6, 2005 | 9:33 a.m.

TEMPE, Ariz. - In the closing days of a season of comebacks, UNLV seemed primed to write another chapter Sunday morning in its NCAA baseball regional.

The Rebels were facing sluggish-looking Coastal Carolina, the Chanticleers playing early Sunday just 13 hours after being soundly defeated by host Arizona State. But despite coming out to an early 4-1 lead and consistently putting up runs in the late innings, the Rebels let one inning beat them in a 14-10 elimination loss.

The Rebels had come off a thrilling victory Saturday against East Carolina, scoring five runs in the top of the ninth to win 5-3 and advance.

Coastal Carolina had beaten UNLV 12-8 in Friday's opener but fell to host Arizona State 11-3 in a game that lasted until 10:31 Saturday night. In Friday's game, the Chanticleers used a seven-run fifth inning to put UNLV away.

But early on, Coastal Carolina's players looked like they were sleepwalking. Two fly balls were totally lost in the Arizona sun, and UNLV capitalized in opening a 4-1 lead after the first inning.

Then the Chanticleers woke up.

The Rebels gave up three runs in the third inning and nine more in the fourth to spot Coastal Carolina a 13-4 lead.

"College baseball in general ... is about trying to defuse the big inning," UNLV coach Buddy Gouldsmith said. "If you look at 90 percent of college games, the team that scores the most in the big inning is the team that wins the game.

"It didn't seem like anything could go right and all the balls fell in. To their credit, they made the plays and made things happen."

And the balls that had been catching the Chanticleers off-guard in the first inning began to baffle the UNLV defense.

In the third inning, a sacrifice fly to right field by Aaron Verrett was misplayed by Ryan Bird, who threw straight at catcher Justin Tellam instead of to a cutoff man or to second to stop Jon Foisy from advancing from first base. Bird's throw was 20 feet left of home plate, allowing Foisy to go to second. On the next play, Foisy scored on an error by shortstop Jordan Parraz.

Still, the hundred or so UNLV fans who watched the Rebels' comeback Saturday against ECU stayed and held their collective breath, waiting for the inevitable comeback from a team that's made so many.

"All you guys, as well as everybody sitting in the stands - in your mind, there was a chance we were going to win that game going into the ninth," Gouldsmith said at a postgame press conference. "You were thinking, they might do it again - they just might do it again.

They almost did, with a pair of two-run innings and two one-run innings following the nine-run inning outburst by the Chanticleers. And some balls that in Las Vegas would have been out of the park came up just short and died on the warning track - just like UNLV's season.

Those flyouts were partially responsible for UNLV stranding 14 runners on base Sunday, 39 total in the weekend.

The one home run UNLV did hit came from the bat of sophomore Chris Bonnell, who hit a 400-foot shot to left-center to put UNLV up 3-1. For the weekend, Bonnell finished 10-for-16 with eight RBIs, a double and two home runs. He and Parraz were named to the all-tournament team of the region that Gouldsmith had said was the most ideal bracket for the Rebels.

Parraz said that through the weekend, he and his teammates never doubted how the weekend would end.

"How many times did we say we loved our draw and thought we could take it?" Parraz said. "We really saw ourselves going to the super regional. We saw that in our sights. Last year I think we met our expectations. This year we had a good year for how it started. It was a rough start and to battle back the way we did showed a lot of character."

The Rebels started out 3-14 in their first five weeks, losing eight games by one or two runs. Two of those close losses were at top-ranked Texas. The Rebels also lost more decisive games to then-No. 6 Cal State Fullerton, but they also beat the Titans once.

More importantly, six UNLV starters, including Bonnell, are underclassmen. Two of the Rebels' three starting pitchers also have remaining eligibility.

Bonnell said he was well aware that that sets the bar higher for UNLV, which is now 3-6 in the last three seasons' NCAA regionals.

"There are a lot of expectations now. We started off real rough this year, and we made it to a regional," he said. "Next year we're going to expect to make a regional and go to a super regional. We're at that point in the program where you're expected to perform. It's going to be exciting next year."UNLV finished the season 35-29 overall.