Ninth-inning rally falls short in UNLV’s 11-10 baseball loss at Air Force

UNLV Erik VanMeetren (8) swings the bat for a hit against Pacific in their baseball game at Wilson Stadium in Las Vegas Monday, Feb. 23, 2015. UNLV won 11-1. (Erik Verduzco/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

UNLV’s big ninth-inning rally fell just short in an 11-10 loss to Air Force in a Mountain West baseball game Sunday in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The Rebels (8-10, 2-7) scored five runs on five hits, a walk and a hit-batsman in the ninth inning and had two runners on base when the game ended.

Erik VanMeetren and Payton Squier each went 2-for-5 for UNLV, with VanMeetren driving in three runs and Squier two. Joey Armstrong went 1-for-2 with two RBIs, two runs, three walks and two assists from center field.

Tyler Jones went 4-for-4 and Spencer Draws 3-for-4 with three RBIs for the Falcons (8-9, 5-4), who had a 17-10 edge in hits.

UNLV starter Bryan Bonnell (1-3) gave up nine runs (five earned) on 11 hits and no walks and struck out one in 3 1/3 innings. The Rebels were charged with five errors.