UNLV picked a good night to reset the mood around its season.
Four days after dropping a home series to New Mexico, the Rebels went on the road and knocked off No. 20 Arizona State 7-5 on Wednesday night at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. It was UNLV’s highest-ranked win since the 2019 upset of No. 5 Stanford, and it came from a team that jumped ahead early, absorbed the late pressure, and still finished the job.
Rosales changed the game fast
Arizona State struck first in the opening inning, but UNLV answered with one swing in the third.
Reggie Bussey drew a leadoff walk, and Marcos Rosales turned it into a lead by driving a two-run homer to deep left. The blast, his seventh of the season, flipped a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 advantage and gave the Rebels immediate control.
Rosales stayed in the middle of the action all night. He doubled in the ninth, scored again, and finished 2-for-5 with two runs and two RBI.
Barragan’s big day came with a bigger win
Drew Barragan did not fill up the box score, but he still found a way into the story.
Earlier Wednesday, Barragan was named a D1Baseball Midseason Second Team All-American. He entered the night tied for the national lead in hits and leading the country in triples, and he extended his on-base streak to 17 games with a walk against the Sun Devils. It was a fitting backdrop for a win that gave UNLV one of its best moments of the season.
Fourth inning gave UNLV room to work
The Rebels built real breathing room in the fourth.
Jayden Hertel and Jack Salmon reached to open the inning, and Gavin Taylor cashed it in with a two-run double to left. An Arizona State error later in the frame brought Taylor home and pushed the lead to 5-1. UNLV added another run in the fifth when Jonny Rodriguez scored on a wild pitch, making it 6-1.
That cushion mattered because Arizona State never fully went away.
Late push made it tense
The Sun Devils started leaning hard in the late innings, and for a while the game felt like it was tilting.
Landon Hairston doubled home a run in the seventh, then came around on a passed ball to cut the lead to 6-4. In the eighth, Dominic Longo ripped another RBI double to left center, and suddenly Arizona State was one swing from flipping the night. What had looked comfortable turned tight in a hurry.
Bullpen finished the upset
Felix Ong started and gave UNLV three innings, allowing one run while working around four walks. After that, the Rebels pieced it together with the bullpen.
Colton Sundloff gave UNLV two strong innings and earned the win, moving to 2-0. Tate Foxson followed with a clean sixth, and LJ Manning helped bridge the game into the eighth.
Then Jase Evangelista took over the biggest outs of the night. He entered with one out in the eighth and struck out the first two hitters he faced. He came back out for the ninth, gave up a two-out single, then ended the game with another strikeout. Evangelista finished with four strikeouts in 1.2 scoreless innings for his first save.
Small play, big insurance
UNLV got its last run without a loud swing.
Rosales doubled to open the ninth, moved to third on a wild pitch, and scored when Rodriguez dropped down a sacrifice bunt. That made it 7-5 and gave the Rebels just enough breathing room to finish off the upset.
Taylor was a major part of that win, going 2-for-3 with two RBI and a walk. Hertel also had two hits, while Salmon doubled and was hit twice. The Rebels struck out 13 times, but they made the most of their chances and forced Arizona State into two costly errors.
Up next
UNLV stays in the Phoenix area and opens a Mountain West series at Grand Canyon on Friday night.
Related stories
New Mexico breaks away late as UNLV loses 12-2 in rubber match
UNLV baseball comeback falls short in 7-6 loss to New Mexico
Welcome to Dice City Sports — where we provide premium, exclusive, up-to-date news and analysis surrounding the Las Vegas sports scene. Follow along on social media, and check back for new articles daily!
Dice City Sports editor Mark Hebert covers the Vegas Golden Knights, Las Vegas Raiders, Athletics, and UNLV baseball and softball. He has 24 years of journalism experience, is also a senior reporter at Exhibit City News, and previously covered the Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers. Follow him on X or connect on LinkedIn.
