What looked more like a football score was actually the U baseball team’s 24-10 loss to the UNLV Rebels in the final game of a four-game series in Las Vegas.

Even though the Utes lost by 14 runs, the game was much closer than the score indicated.

But they still lost.

The Rebels used a hot start and blazing finish to carry them to the victory.

Utah struck first with a single by Matt Ciaramella, which drove in a run, but things would change rather quickly.

Shad McCord, who started on the hill for the Utes, was torched for 10 runs in nine innings and the Rebels had an 11-1 lead before the Utes could blink.

The Utes did not back down against the conference leading Rebels, as they came back to shave five runs off the lead.

However, the Rebels finished off the Utes with a nine-run eighth inning and the Utes had no chance of winning.

The high score of the game was no surprise, considering the way the past three games had gone in the series.

The two teams totaled 52 runs in the first three games, but Utah could only come up with one victory out of the four games.

The Utes’ pitching and defense was able to keep the Rebels to less than 10 runs in two of the games, but gave up 19 and 24 runs, respectively, in the other two.

The loss dropped the Utes to 10-16 in conference play, which is next-to-last in the MWC.

The series with UNLV was critical to Utah’s chances of jumping BYU in the conference standings.

But now they are four games behind the Cougars in the loss column and they only have three games to go against San Diego State.

BYU will have to lose at least four of its last six games this week against Air Force. However, Air Force is the worst team in the conference. The Falcons have not won a single conference game all season and have an overall record of 5-41.

The final series with San Diego State may be a preview of the MWC tournament if the Aztecs are able to edge out the New Mexico Lobos for the fifth spot.

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