MINNEAPOLIS — The weekend started about as poorly as it could have for UNLV, but by the time the Hustlin’ Rebels left U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday, the trip looked much different.
After getting shut out 10-0 by Minnesota in the Cambria Classic opener, UNLV responded by scoring 26 runs over its final two games. The Rebels beat Southern Illinois 16-8 on Saturday and Northwestern 10-5 on Sunday, salvaging a productive weekend and improving to 12-5.
The response mattered as much as the two wins. UNLV managed only four hits against Minnesota and never seriously threatened to change that game, but less than 24 hours later, the offense looked like itself again. The Rebels created traffic, produced extra-base damage and extended innings long enough for the power in the middle of the lineup to take over.
For a team still trying to establish consistency early in the season, the Cambria Classic offered both sides of the evaluation. Friday showed what UNLV looks like when it cannot create pressure. Saturday and Sunday showed how quickly things can change when the lineup starts stringing productive at-bats together again.
Photo Credit – UNLV Baseball
A 10-Run Eighth Changes the Southern Illinois Game
UNLV did not waste much time responding to Friday’s loss. The Rebels built a 5-0 advantage against Southern Illinois and appeared ready to take control early, but the Salukis gradually worked their way back into the game and cut the margin to two.
That created the first real test of the weekend. UNLV had already watched the opener get away early, and now Southern Illinois was threatening to turn Saturday into another uncomfortable finish. Instead of allowing the game to keep tightening, the Rebels produced their biggest inning of the trip.
Jack Salmon started the damage with an RBI single in the eighth, and Gunnar Myro followed with another run-scoring hit as UNLV continued putting runners on base. A bases-loaded walk forced home another run before Ayden Garcia added a sacrifice fly, keeping the inning alive and forcing Southern Illinois to continue pitching with traffic everywhere.
Then the power arrived.
Nin Burns II stepped in with runners aboard and drove a three-run home run to left-center, giving UNLV the swing that finally broke the game open. Gavin Taylor followed later in the inning with a two-run homer of his own, turning what had recently been a competitive game into a 16-8 advantage.
By the time Southern Illinois recorded the final out, UNLV had scored 10 runs in the inning. It was the exact type of extended offensive sequence the Rebels could not create against Minnesota, with one productive plate appearance leading directly into another until the Salukis ran out of ways to stop it.
Burns finished 4 for 6 with a double, home run, two runs and five RBIs, producing the biggest individual line of the weekend. Myro went 3 for 4 with two runs and an RBI, while Marcos Rosales and Drew Barragan each collected two hits and scored twice.
Salmon finished 2 for 4 with two runs, an RBI and a walk. Taylor scored three times and drove in two with his home run, while Garcia contributed an RBI despite going hitless by drawing two walks and adding the sacrifice fly.
UNLV finished with 15 hits and 16 runs, but the biggest difference from Friday was not simply the final total. The Rebels kept innings alive, forced Southern Illinois to work under pressure and eventually created enough opportunities for the middle of the lineup to deliver.
Dillhoff Gives UNLV the Start It Needed
The offensive explosion was possible because Parker Dillhoff gave UNLV enough stability on the mound to keep the game from slipping away while Southern Illinois made its push.
Dillhoff worked 6 1/3 innings, allowing three earned runs on five hits and two walks while striking out six. He improved to 2-0 and provided exactly the type of start UNLV needed after Carson Lane had been hit hard in Friday’s opener.
Southern Illinois eventually created more offense against the bullpen, with Jase Evangelista allowing five runs, four earned, on six hits over two innings. By then, however, UNLV had created enough separation that the Salukis could not seriously threaten the outcome.
Colton Sundloff also recorded two outs without allowing a hit or a run while striking out one. His work helped bridge the game into the later innings before UNLV’s offense completely separated itself.
The final score looked comfortable, but the game did not always feel that way. Southern Illinois had cut into the early lead and forced UNLV to answer, and the Rebels responded by producing their most explosive inning of the weekend.
UNLV Carries the Offense Into Sunday
The question entering Sunday was whether the 16-run performance represented one breakout game or whether UNLV had actually found something it could carry forward.
Northwestern scored first and took a 1-0 lead in the opening inning, but the Rebels responded with two runs in the second and gradually started taking control as the game moved into the middle innings. Instead of waiting for one massive rally, UNLV kept building pressure until the power returned again in the sixth.
Garcia drove a pitch over the right-field wall for a solo home run that extended UNLV’s advantage to 5-3. Cooper Sheff followed later with a two-run homer to left, creating the separation the Rebels had been looking for and pushing the game firmly in their direction.
The offense kept building after that. Rosales doubled home another run, and Barragan followed with a triple that stretched the margin even further and prevented Northwestern from making the sixth inning damage feel temporary.
Sheff delivered the biggest individual performance, finishing 3 for 4 with two home runs, four RBIs and two runs scored. After Burns carried much of the offensive load Saturday, Sheff became the centerpiece Sunday.
Garcia went 2 for 5 with his home run, two runs and an RBI. Burns reached three times with a hit and two walks while scoring twice, while Rosales and Barragan each added an extra-base hit and an RBI. Jonny Rodriguez also drove in a run as UNLV produced another balanced offensive effort.
The Rebels finished with 10 hits and 10 runs, giving them 25 hits and 26 runs over the final two games of the tournament. That was a significant response after Friday’s four-hit shutout.
Ong and the Bullpen Keep Northwestern From Answering
Felix Ong gave UNLV five innings Sunday and did enough to keep the game under control while the offense built its lead.
Ong allowed three earned runs on six hits and two walks while striking out three, earning the victory and improving to 1-1. The outing was not dominant, but it prevented Northwestern from creating the kind of inning that could completely change the direction of the game.
LJ Manning followed with two innings and allowed two earned runs on three hits while striking out three. Sundloff then worked a clean eighth, and Jacob Gomberg followed with a scoreless ninth.
Neither Sundloff nor Gomberg allowed a hit or a walk. Those final two innings removed any late drama and allowed UNLV to finish the weekend without giving Northwestern an opportunity to turn the final innings into another close game.
The pitching formula did not have to be perfect because the offense gave the staff room to work. After the way Friday unfolded, that was an important change.
The Middle of the Lineup Changes the Weekend
The most encouraging part of the final two games was where the damage came from and how many different hitters were involved.
Burns drove the Southern Illinois win with four hits and five RBIs. Garcia homered Sunday after contributing a sacrifice fly and two walks Saturday. Sheff hit two home runs against Northwestern, and Taylor added another homer against Southern Illinois.
That gave UNLV multiple sources of power instead of asking one hitter to carry every inning.
The hitters around them continued creating the opportunities. Rosales kept reaching base and producing extra-base hits, Barragan remained involved in the middle of the order, and Myro and Salmon gave the Rebels important production Saturday.
That balance matters because UNLV’s offense has been at its best when the pressure comes in waves. The Rebels do not need one player to drive every inning if the lineup continues creating traffic and giving the middle of the order chances to do damage.
Friday against Minnesota, almost none of that happened. Saturday and Sunday, it returned.
UNLV Leaves Minneapolis With a Different Feel
UNLV did not leave Minneapolis with a perfect weekend. The Rebels were overwhelmed by Minnesota in the opener, and a 10-0 loss does not disappear simply because the next two games went better.
What changed was the response.
UNLV could have allowed Friday to become the beginning of a difficult tournament. Instead, the Rebels scored 16 runs the next day, produced a 10-run inning when Southern Illinois had started making the game uncomfortable and then returned Sunday to score 10 more against Northwestern.
The bats loosened up, the power returned and the innings started lasting longer. Burns finished the Southern Illinois game 4 for 6 with five RBIs, Sheff followed Sunday with two home runs and four RBIs, while Garcia and Taylor also went deep during the two-game response.
UNLV also received enough starting pitching from Dillhoff and Ong to give the offense time to work. Neither needed to dominate because both kept the game under enough control for the lineup to eventually create separation.
For a team still trying to understand how its early-season success will translate against different competition, that may be the most useful part of the weekend. Friday showed the Rebels can be shut down when they cannot create traffic or control the game on the mound, while the final two games showed they can respond quickly when those same parts return.
UNLV leaves Minneapolis at 12-5 after winning two of three at the Cambria Classic. The weekend started with one of the Rebels’ worst performances of the season and ended with 26 runs over two games, four home runs and an offense that looked much closer to the one UNLV expects to carry through the rest of March.
The 2-1 record mattered, but the way the Rebels recovered from Friday may tell more about what they took home from Minneapolis.