Behind 13 hits and seven strong innings from freshman right hander Sean Hoelscher, the Horned Frog baseball team beat the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Rebels 12-1 at Lupton Stadium on Saturday.
The leadoff hitter for the Frogs reached base in each of the first five innings, leading to eight of 12 runs.
Head coach Jim Schlossnagle said getting the first runner on allows the team to be more aggressive and possibly get better pitches to hit.
“[Getting the leadoff batter on] always helps because it gives you the chance to do some things – bunting and hit and run all that kind of stuff,” Schlossnagle said. “If you can get the guy in the stretch and make him worry about holding runners and throwing strikes, you can usually give your offense a better chance.”
Schlossnagle said Hoelscher, who went seven innings with one walk and a career high eight strikeouts, took advantage of the opportunity to pitch with a lead.
“[He] threw a lot of strikes, Schlossnagle said. “[He] threw a good slider and had good movement to his fastball. When you get a chance to pitch with a lead, it’s a lot more fun to pitch like that.”
Hoelscher said his strikeout pitches were his fastball and slider.
In the first, Ben Carruthers who led off with a single and advanced to second on shortshop Bryan Kervin‘s groundout He scored on a Chris Ellington double.
In the third, two walks and a single loaded the bases. UNLV starter Corey Hales walked right fielder Chris Ellington, scoring the first of three runs in the inning.
Carpenter, lead off the fifth and the seventh with home runs, said the Frogs’ situational hitting has gotten better during their eight game winning streak.
“These past few weeks, we’ve won eight straight games, and we’ve really kind of stepped up in that category,” Carpenter said. “We’ve got some guys getting some big knocks in some key situations.”
Carpenter said the team wants to win Sunday, especially after losing the series with the Rebels in Las Vegas last month.
“Losing that series to UNLV kind of gave us a bad taste in our mouth,” he said. “We came out this weekend with something to prove, and we want to sweep them.”
The Frogs will get their chance 1 p.m. Sunday.
