Koelbaek, Keenan help UNLV women keep MWC golf lead

Led by co-leaders Therese Koelbaek and Ellis Keenan, the UNLV women’s golf team maintained its three-stroke lead Friday after two rounds of the Mountain West Conference Championship in Phoenix.

The Rebels shot a 4-over-par 292 and are at 2-over 578 with one round left at Wigwam Resort. Texas Christian is second at 581, followed by Brigham Young (586) and New Mexico (592).

Koelbaek and Keenan are tied for first with BYU’s Maggie Yuan at 3-under 141. Koelbaek, a senior who was named the conference golfer of the year Thursday, shot a second-round 1-under 71, one of three players to finish under par. Keenan, a sophomore who had a two-stroke lead after the first round, shot 73 Friday.

Alejandra Guacaneme (73) is tied for 10th at 147 and Bethany Glassford (75) is tied for 15th at 149 for the Rebels, seeking their fourth Mountain West title.

■ UNLV MEN’S GOLF — Kevin Penner shot a 9-under 135 over 36 holes to take the individual lead and help the Rebels to a seven-stroke lead after the first day of the Cougar Classic in Provo, Utah.

Penner shot 67-68 at Riverside Country Club for a two-stroke lead over Pacific’s Alex Edfort. UNLV’s Blake Biddle is tied for fourth at 140, and Derek Ernst is tied for seventh at 141. Colby Smith shot 152 and Arthur Kim 154.

The Rebels shot 280-285 for an 11-under 565. Colorado State and Pacific are at 572, and UC Davis and Washington are at 575.

The final 18 holes will be played today.

■ UNLV BASEBALL — Scott Berke’s two-out single in the 10th inning scored Brandon Bayardi to give the Rebels a 6-5 victory over Brigham Young at Wilson Stadium.

With two out, Bayardi singled and went to second on Ryan Scott’s single. Berke followed with his single to give UNLV (24-13, 4-6 MWC) its second victory in the three-game series, which concludes at 1:05 p.m. today.

Scott, Scott Dysinger and Cash Thomas each had three hits for the Rebels. Zack Hartman (4-0) struck out seven in three innings to get the victory.

■ UNLV SOFTBALL — Amanda Oliveto pitched a three-hitter and Tayler Aleman hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning to end the game by the run rule as the Rebels pounded Utah 9-1 in Mountain West action at Eller Media Stadium.

Oliveto (18-7) struck out seven and allowed one unearned run for UNLV (21-15, 3-2), which scored three in the fifth and four in the sixth to break open a 2-1 game.

Aleman also doubled and drove in four runs in four at-bats. Leadoff hitter Paige Emerson went 3-for-4 with two runs, Bri Bernardi was 2-for-2 and Tayler Van Acker 2-for-3 for the Rebels, who rapped 12 hits.

■ UNLV WOMEN’S TENNIS — The Rebels defeated Utah 4-3 in San Diego to take sole possession of first place in the Mountain West.

UNLV (17-4, 6-0) and the Utes entered play with 5-0 conference records, and defending champion Utah had won 13 straight regular-season MWC matches.

The Rebels trailed 1-0 after losing two of three doubles matches, then won four of six in singles. Freshman Aleksandra Josifoska clinched the victory with a 6-3, 7-6 win at No. 2.

■ CSN BASEBALL — Dalton Gust went 4-for-4 with four RBIs to power College of Southern Nevada to a 9-6 victory over College of Southern Idaho in the second game of a Scenic West Athletic Conference doubleheader in Twin Falls, Idaho.

Jordan Mehlhoff went 3-for-4 and Quinnton Mack 2-for-3 for the Coyotes.

In the first game, Kris Kaplan hit a two-run homer in the second inning, but CSN allowed three unanswered runs and lost, 3-2. The Coyotes are 22-20 and 11-15.

■ CSN SOFTBALL — The Coyotes were swept by Salt Lake Community College 10-2 and 12-0 in Scenic West Athletic Conference action in Salt Lake City. CSN fell to 26-22 and 18-16.