Courtesy of UNLV Athletics
SURPRISE, Ariz. (UNLVrebels.com) – The UNLV baseball team (1-0) kicked off the 2025 season at the SandersonFord Collegiate Baseball Classic on Friday afternoon, facing off against the Indiana Hoosiers in the first of four games this weekend. The Rebels showed plenty of highlights throughout the contest, taking down the Hoosiers on a final score of 4-2.
The pitching staff showed excellent composure throughout the game, Carson Lane earning the starting role on Opening Day and tossing 4.1 innings in the season debut. The sophomore notched a career-high against their BigTen opponent by tossing seven of the Rebels’ 11 strikeouts, only allowing five hits and one run. Will Marquart was credited the win after stepping in for relief and threw 1.2 innings, the redshirt senior facing seven batters before Mason Dillow closed the contest. The Phoenix, Ariz., native produced three innings of work as the Rebel closer and took on four strikeouts, only allowing two hits. Dillow collected the save after the Hoosiers kicked off the top of the ninth with a double to left, but held the base runner at bay with three-consecutive strikeouts to seal the win (two swinging, one looking).
The Scarlet & Gray scored all four of their runs in the contest through the game’s first inning of action; Elijah Rodriguez, Cooper Sheff and JP Hefft each picking up singles at the top of the order to start the game. Dean Toigo struck a long ball past right field as the team’s cleanup hitter, marking a grand slam in his first career Division I at-bat, arriving at UNLV via transfer from Hope International.
Hefft marked the only batter in the lineup to earn multiple hits in the contest, earning his second hit of the day in the eighth inning after hitting a single to right field. After the first inning, Rebels who registered hits in the contest were credited to Brendan O’Sullivan and Cole Koniarsky.
UNLV’s defense held strong throughout the nine-inning match, picking up a pair of double plays in the top of the fifth and the seventh innings. Sheff teamed up with O’Sullivan on the double play in the fifth, Hefft and Paul Myro IV tallying the sequence with O’Sullivan in the seventh.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
– The Rebels’ Friday-night victory marked the first in program history against the Hoosiers, the game being noted as the first meeting between the two programs.
– Dean Toigo’s grand slam was noted as the ‘first grand slam of the season’ according to the NCAA.
– The win over Indiana marks the fourth season-opening victory in the last five seasons.
UP NEXT
UNLV will look to reset and repeat early tomorrow against their highest-ranked opponent since the 2023 season, facing off against no. 7 Oregon State on Saturday, Feb. 15. That contest against the Beavers has a first-pitch time set at 11 a.m. PT at Surprise Stadium. To get updates on all things Hustlin‘ Rebels, links to the season’s games can be found on the team’s schedule page. You can also get live updates on how the Scarlet & Gray are faring on the team’s X (formerly known as Twitter), Facebook and Instagram accounts.
