SANTA CLARA, Calif. — For five innings, it never really felt like UNLV had anything going. The at-bats were quick, almost rushed at times, the innings moved fast and nothing ever built. There were no runners stacking up, no long sequences and nothing that made it feel like a big inning was coming. Even when something started, it ended almost as quickly. By the time the Rebels finally created real pressure, they were already trying to erase a deficit.

Santa Clara used early traffic, a clean fifth inning and just enough late execution to hold on for a 5-3 win Sunday in the series finale, snapping UNLV’s seven-game winning streak. The Rebels fell to 9-3 but still left Santa Clara with a 2-1 series win. That is always the priority in a road set. You win the series, get back home and move on. Still, this one will stick because UNLV eventually gave itself a chance after spending most of the afternoon without much offensively.

Santa Clara Gets Something From the First Inning

The first inning did not look like much, but it set the tone. Felix Ong issued back-to-back walks to open the bottom half and immediately had to work out of trouble. He settled enough to strike out Max Ross, but Santa Clara still found a way to cash in when Will Anderson beat out an infield single to load the bases and Luke Devine followed with a sacrifice fly.

It was only 1-0, and nothing about the inning felt overwhelming. It mattered because UNLV could not answer.

Jackson Cook took advantage of that immediately. The Santa Clara starter worked quickly, filled the strike zone and never really allowed the Rebels to slow the game down. Through five innings, UNLV did not have a hit. A walk in the third and a hit-by-pitch in the fourth were the only baserunners, and neither developed into real pressure.

There were no deep counts or extended sequences to force Cook out of rhythm. Each inning started to look like the one before it, and the longer that continued, the smaller UNLV’s margin became.

The Fifth and Sixth Innings Create the Separation

Santa Clara added to the lead in the fifth without needing to hit the ball particularly hard. A leadoff walk, a bunt single and an infield single loaded the bases. Ross lifted a sacrifice fly, and Anderson followed with an RBI fielder’s choice to make it 3-0.

The Broncos simply executed. Three runs did not look like an overwhelming deficit on the scoreboard, but after five hitless innings, it felt much larger because UNLV had not created enough offense to suggest a comeback was coming.

The sixth inning is the one that will probably bother the Rebels the most. Tate Foxson struck out the first two hitters and looked ready to work a clean inning. Instead, a two-out single kept the inning alive, and everything changed from there. A throwing error on a pickoff attempt moved Andrew Rayment into scoring position, one balk pushed him to third and another brought him home.

Santa Clara did not need an extra-base hit or even another ball put in play. What looked like a finished inning became another run because UNLV could not close it.

In a game eventually decided by two runs, that sequence mattered.

UNLV Finally Strings At-Bats Together

UNLV finally created something in the seventh. Marcos Rosales reached on an error and moved into scoring position, and Ayden Garcia worked a two-out walk to extend the inning. Nin Burns II followed with a single to left that brought Rosales home and cut into the deficit.

It was only one run, but it was the first time all afternoon that something productive carried from one at-bat into the next.

Santa Clara answered immediately. The Broncos used a walk, a double and a sacrifice fly in the bottom half to push the margin back to four, preventing UNLV from building on the first real offensive momentum it had created.

The eighth inning was where the game finally started to feel different. Gavin Taylor struck out to open the inning, and for a moment it looked like another opportunity might disappear before it began. Gunnar Myro changed that with one swing, sending his first home run of the season over the wall in left.

Rosales followed with a single, and Drew Barragan drove him home to make it 5-3. For the first time all afternoon, the at-bats had life and the pressure carried from one hitter to the next.

Santa Clara put a runner on in the bottom half, but UNLV worked out of the inning without allowing another run. After five innings where almost nothing happened offensively, the Rebels went to the ninth trailing by only two.

The Ninth Gives UNLV a Real Chance

The ninth inning gave the Rebels exactly the situation they wanted.

Burns worked a leadoff walk, and Jayden Hertel followed with a single up the middle. One out later, UNLV had runners on the corners, the tying run on base and an opportunity to turn a mostly empty offensive afternoon into a comeback.

That was the spot.

It disappeared almost as quickly as it arrived.

A flyout produced the second out before Santa Clara turned a 5-4-3 double play to end the game.

After being held hitless through five innings, UNLV still finished with six hits and three walks. The offense eventually created enough pressure to make the final inning matter, but the earlier damage had left too much to recover from.

The Mistakes Became Runs

Two UNLV errors turned into extra opportunities, and Santa Clara did enough with them. That was one of the differences in a game where neither team needed a huge offensive inning to create separation.

Ong took the loss and fell to 0-1 after working five innings. He allowed three earned runs on five hits, walked four and struck out three. Foxson followed with two innings, allowing two runs, one earned, on two hits and two walks while striking out three. Jase Evangelista worked a scoreless eighth, allowing one hit and striking out one.

Cook earned the win for Santa Clara and improved to 1-1 after throwing five hitless innings. He walked one and struck out three while keeping UNLV from generating any sustained pressure. Nick Chow followed with 2 1/3 innings, allowing three hits and two runs, one earned, while walking one and striking out three. Tyler Alleman allowed two hits and one earned run in two-thirds of an inning before Cooper Lanz worked the ninth, allowing one hit and one walk to earn his first save.

Santa Clara received two RBIs from Anderson, who finished 1 for 3. Ross went 1 for 3 with a double and an RBI, while Devine added an RBI. Thomas Ferroggiaro finished 1 for 4 with two runs and a walk, and Ben Cleary went 1 for 2 with two walks and a run scored.

UNLV’s Offense Arrives Too Late

Rosales finished 1 for 3 with two runs and a hit-by-pitch, continuing to create pressure once UNLV finally started getting runners aboard. Barragan went 1 for 4 and drove in a run, while Burns finished 1 for 3 with an RBI and a walk.

Cooper Sheff went 1 for 4, and Hertel added another hit in four at-bats. Taylor went 0 for 3 but drew a walk. Myro finished 1 for 3, with his first home run of the season providing the swing that finally gave the Rebels some life in the eighth.

The production eventually showed up. It just arrived too late.

For five innings, Cook dictated everything. UNLV did not make him work deep into enough counts, could not build traffic and never forced Santa Clara to defend a sustained sequence. When the Rebels finally started doing those things in the seventh and eighth, the game changed quickly.

That is what makes the loss frustrating. UNLV eventually found a version of its offense that could have won the game. It simply spent too much of the afternoon looking for it.

UNLV Still Leaves With the Series

UNLV started Rosales at second base, Jonny Rodriguez at first, Barragan at third, Garcia behind the plate, Burns in right field, Sheff at shortstop, Hertel in left, Taylor at designated hitter and Myro in center.

Santa Clara countered with Ferroggiaro at second base, Cleary at shortstop, Ross in left field, Anderson at first, Devine in right, Mateo Garcia at designated hitter, Waylon Walsh at third, Rayment in center and Mace Wheeler behind the plate.

The lineups and box score will show a 5-3 Santa Clara win, but the game came down to how long it took UNLV to create pressure and how efficiently the Broncos used the opportunities the Rebels gave them.

There is still something to take from the way UNLV finished. The fight showed up late, the at-bats improved and the pressure finally shifted. The Rebels got the tying run on base in the ninth after spending the first five innings without a hit.

They gave themselves a chance. They just waited too long to take it.

The seven-game winning streak is over, but the weekend was still productive. UNLV leaves Santa Clara with a 2-1 series victory and a 9-3 record, exactly what a team wants from its first road series of the season.

Sunday provided something else to carry home. In a close game, walks, errors, balks and empty offensive innings accumulate quickly. Santa Clara did not overpower UNLV. The Broncos simply took advantage of enough of those small moments before the Rebels finally responded.

UNLV returns to Las Vegas on Tuesday for a two-game set against Northern Colorado.