LAS VEGAS — UNLV didn’t wait around Thursday night. It took control early and never really gave it back. After falling behind in the second inning, the Rebels answered with nine runs over the next two innings and held off a late push from New Mexico to win 15-10 in the opener of a three-game Mountain West series at Earl E. Wilson Stadium. It was one of those games where you saw both sides of this group. The offense can get rolling fast. And when things start to slip a little, they didn’t let it snowball.

New Mexico struck first in the second with a three-run home run off the bat of Brodey Williams, a drive to deep left that scored Damian Garcia and Luke Mansy and gave the Lobos a 3-0 lead. It happened quickly. A couple runners on, one swing, and suddenly UNLV was behind again. For a minute, it felt like it might turn into that kind of night. It didn’t.

The response came right away. Garcia reached with a single to right center, Burns was hit by a pitch, and Sheff lined a single through the left side to load the bases with one out. Hertel followed with an RBI single to get them on the board. Salmon came through next with a two-RBI single to shallow left that tied it, and Rosales lifted a sacrifice fly to center to give the Rebels the lead. Just like that, it was 4-3, and the game had flipped.

They didn’t stop.

Burns led off the third with a home run to deep left, and it kept building from there. Sheff worked a walk, Hertel followed with a single, and Salmon ripped an RBI double down the right field line. Myro added a run-scoring single back up the middle. Rodriguez brought one in with a sacrifice fly, and a passed ball allowed another run to score. Five runs in the inning. 9-3. It got away from the Lobos fast.

It didn’t feel like one big moment either. It was just pressure. At-bats stacking. Runners on. No break in between. Hertel added a two-run home run in the fourth, a shot to left that scored Sheff and made it 11-3. At that point, it looked pretty comfortable.

Then the fifth happened.

Six runs. Just like that, it was 11-9. The inning stretched with walks from Williams and Carris, a two-run single from Khalil Walker, and another RBI knock from Anthony Diaz. What had been under control tightened quickly. Those are the innings that have caused problems before.

This time, it didn’t.

Garcia was hit by a pitch to start the sixth. Burns reached on an error at third. Sheff came through again with an RBI single to left, and Hertel followed with a sacrifice fly to bring in another. Lead back to four at 13-9. Nothing big, but it stopped everything from getting worse.

The Lobos added a solo home run from Mansy in the seventh, cutting it to three again. Close enough to feel it. That didn’t last long either. Garcia answered in the bottom half, driving a two-run home run to left that scored Barragan and pushed the lead to 15-10. That was the swing that put it away.

From there, it settled down. Manning came on in relief and gave them two innings, allowing one run while striking out three and earning his first win. Evangelista followed with two scoreless innings, giving up just one hit and closing it out clean. After how things looked in the fifth, that mattered.

At the plate, it came from everywhere. Hertel finished 3-for-4 with four RBIs and a home run. Salmon went 3-for-3 with a double, three RBIs, and a walk. Sheff reached base four times, going 3-for-3 with a walk and scoring three runs. Garcia added a home run, two RBIs, and three runs scored. Burns homered early and scored three times. Eight of nine starters drove in at least one run.

More than anything, it was when things happened. Every time there was pressure, they answered it. The lead never disappeared, and even after the six-run fifth, it never fully flipped.

They didn’t have to chase anything. They built it early, took the hit, and answered before it got out of control.

It hasn’t always looked like that. Earlier this week, a game like this got away late. This one didn’t.

That’s still what they’re figuring out. The offense is good enough to flip a game fast. That part is obvious. Handling everything that comes after, that’s the piece.

Thursday looked a lot closer.

Not perfect. The fifth made sure of that. But it was controlled. They set it early and didn’t let it go.