The UNLV Hustlin’ Rebels secured a 9-7 extra-inning victory over the San Diego State Aztecs on May 16, earning the No. 6 seed in the upcoming Credit Union 1 Mountain West Baseball Championship. The game took place at Earl E. Wilson Stadium and was decided by Gunnar Myro’s two-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the tenth inning.
This win allowed UNLV to overcome a three-run deficit and advance to postseason play, highlighting their resilience during a back-and-forth contest. The outcome is significant as it keeps UNLV’s season alive and sends them to Mesa, Arizona for tournament action.
The Rebels initially led after Cooper Sheff’s RBI single, but San Diego State responded with five runs in the fourth inning to take a commanding lead. Key contributions came from Nin Burns II, who hit his tenth home run of the season and finished with four hits and three runs batted in. Jonny Rodriguez also drove in two runs during a four-run rally that gave UNLV a late lead before San Diego State tied it again in the eighth.
Head Coach Stan Stolte said: “So many kids stepped up today in a must win. We have a lot of respect for San Diego State, they play the game the right way and are so sound and well coached. Ryan Marton was incredible out of the bullpen and then Gunnar Myro made a big play in the top of the 10th and then had the big swing in the bottom of the 10th. We started out 0-3 in conference and were chasing wins all year which is hard to do, but this group stuck together.” Josh Donegan earned his first win by escaping bases-loaded trouble for UNLV just before Myro’s decisive at-bat.
Drew Barragan extended his on-base streak to 53 games dating back to last season at Western Kentucky, while Myro pushed his hitting streak to sixteen games with his performance Saturday.
UNLV will next face Air Force as they open tournament play on Thursday, May 21.
