BYU ends Rebels’ season with ninth-inning single

Michael Bowen’s single in the ninth inning lifted Brigham Young to a 5-4 victory over UNLV on Wednesday and eliminated the Rebels from the Mountain West Conference baseball tournament at Fort Worth, Texas.

Bowen’s one-out hit off UNLV senior Marc Baca scored Kent Walton with the winning run. Rebels shortstop Anthony Morel tried to make a leaping catch of Bowen’s line drive, but the ball caromed off his glove.

UNLV lost nine of its last 10 games to finish 26-32, the fourth consecutive losing season for sixth-year coach Buddy Gouldsmith.

The fifth-seeded Rebels tied the game by scoring two runs in the eighth on singles by Brian Gilbertson and Scott Berke.

“I am proud of our team for battling back and tying the game,” Gouldsmith said. “The ball just didn’t bounce our way, and that’s the way it’s gone most of the year for us.”

UNLV suffered a 12-1 loss to San Diego State on Tuesday.