WSU (20-18) resumed Mountain West Conference play on Friday against UNLV (22-16), as they took down the Rebels 13-2 in eight innings. 

The Cougars handed the ball to their ace, Nick Lewis, who dazzled over seven innings of one run ball. Lewis set a new career high for himself with nine strikeouts. 

“I figured out quickly that they like to swing,” Lewis said. “So we threw plenty of off-speed pitches.” 

Rylan Haider and August Ritchie combined to pitch one inning to finish the game. It was not only the pitching that clicked for the Cougars.

The lineup tallied 11 hits, nine walks and three hit-by-pitches on their way to a win. Every single Cougar in the lineup reached base.

WSU scored four runs in the second inning, and added on in the middle innings, until the Cougars drove the nail in the coffin with a five run eighth frame. The Cougars did all their damage via small ball, with no home runs hit in the game. 

The relentless at-bats from the Cougars chased UNLV starter Parker Dilhoff after four innings. Head coach Nathan Choate thought his team played really good baseball.

“I thought our at bats were really good,” Choate said. “We really worked some counts and executed, we put pressure on them.”