STANFORD, Calif. – After winning two of their three games over the course of the weekend at Pacific, the UNLV baseball team (3-1) made one more stop out west before heading back to their home stadium at Earl E. Wilson Stadium. The Rebels took on #23 Stanford (1-3) for an unconventional Monday showdown, the end result being their first game of the season producing double-digit runs for a 10-8 victory.

Monday’s game cements a landmark win for the program, the first win against a ranked opponent since UNLV took down then-no. 11 Arizona State back on March 16, 2021. The victory was also the first win over the Cardinal since 2019 when the Rebels picked up a win in the first of the three-game series back on Feb. 23. The team’s hot start to the 2024 season marks the second-straight campaign where the Rebels own a 3-1 record through the first four games, the fourth time since the 2021 season.


The Scarlet & Gray broke out 16 hits in the contest, 14 of those hits being recorded as singles. The bottom of the Rebels’ lineup would excel at the plate; eight hits, six runs and six RBIs being recorded between Santino Panaro, Chase Gallegos and Chase Ditmar’s 12 at bats. The team’s Chase-duo each recorded three hits alongside Panaro’s two, Panaro leading the charge with a team-high three runs and Gallegos recording three RBIs. The other two hits for UNLV came from Kade Higgins and Ditmar, who each recorded a double in the contest.

The two teams traded blows back-and-forth to start the contest, each team mirroring a score in the first two innings. Joey Acosta would step in as relief in the bottom of the second inning, stretching out 6.1 innings of work on the mound to halt Stanford’s offense for his first appearance of the season. The game results as the graduate student’s fourth win since joining the Rebels, striking out three batters in a total of 76 pitches.

UNLV would rattle off five runs across the fourth and fifth innings of play, every single one of them coming off of the aforementioned singles. Gallegos and Hefft each singled up the middle of the field in the fourth to drive home Panaro and Ditmar. Panaro and Ditmar each came back to the plate in the fifth inning for RBI-singles of their own, the former’s shot to the right driving in Kade Higgins and the latter’s signing off to the left field for Austin Kryszczuk’s turn to cross home plate. Gallegos would round out the top of the fifth inning with the Rebels’ ninth run of the game, a single to right field bringing home Panaro.

The Rebels will end their road trip and head back to Las Vegas, hosting Bradley this upcoming weekend for the home-opening series. That weekend will consist of three games, one each day, starting on Friday, Feb. 23 through Sunday, Feb. 25. Friday’s match has a scheduled first pitch of 6:05 p.m. PT.

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