The Rebels added two more in the fifth. Nin Burns II singled in Marcos Rosales, and Jayden Hertel drove in Burns with a groundout to make it 6-1.
Then the game flipped. Fresno State sent 12 batters to the plate in the bottom of the fifth, scoring eight runs on seven hits. Marcus Nolen delivered the biggest blow, a three-run homer that gave the Bulldogs a 9-6 lead.
Rebels punch back late
Fresno State stretched the lead to 11-6 in the seventh on back-to-back homers from Michael Boyd and Owen Faust, but UNLV was not done.
Hertel opened the eighth with a double, and Salmon followed with a two-run homer to cut the deficit to 11-8. Gunnar Myro singled, Bussey walked, and Drew Barragan tied the game with a three-run homer to deep center.
Barragan reached on an error in the first inning, keeping his season-long on-base streak alive, then delivered the swing that pulled UNLV all the way back.
Fresno State answers again
The tie did not last. In the bottom of the eighth, Faust hit his second homer of the game, a two-run shot that put Fresno State back in front. Austin Young later added an RBI single, pushing the Bulldogs’ lead to 14-11.
UNLV still made one final run in the ninth. Rodriguez homered to right to make it 14-12, and Myro singled in Hertel to cut it to one. But Fresno State escaped with the tying run aboard.
J-Rod keeps rolling
Rodriguez continued his huge weekend, finishing 2-for-4 with a homer, a double, two runs and an RBI. After his three-homer game Saturday, Rodriguez finished the Fresno State series with five home runs and 13 RBI.
Taylor drove in three with his homer, Barragan finished with four RBI, Salmon added two RBI, and Hertel and Myro each had two hits.
Up next
UNLV returns home for its final regular-season series, hosting San Diego State from Thursday through Saturday at Earl E. Wilson Stadium.