LAS VEGAS — UNLV snapped BYU's 10-game Mountain West Conference win streak, beating the Cougars 10-6 on Saturday.
BYU (23-8-1, 10-2 MWC) took two of the three games at UNLV (15-21, 9-3).
While BYU outhit the Rebels 13-12, it couldn't string those hits together on Saturday. The Cougars left eight runners on base and hit into three double plays.
And fielding and base-running errors cost the Cougars more than three runs.
"With a couple more breaks, we could have had a chance to squeak one out," said BYU coach Vance Law.
Cougar pitcher Blake Torgerson was replaced in the third inning — the first of UNLV's two four-run innings — by Josh Barrett after the freshman starter twisted his ankle fielding a bunt. Barrett was replaced on the hill in the seventh by James Platt, but neither could keep the Rebels off the bases.
BYU got its initial run in the fifth off two hits, but Apana Nakayama came through with a leadoff homer in the sixth to make the score 5-2.
Kory Knell got caught in a rundown off first in the sixth and was tagged out before Chambers could score to end BYU's threat.
On Friday, Ben Saylor hit two of four homers for BYU and Justin Su'a pitched well in relief in a come-from-behind, 11-9 victory over UNLV. Saylor put BYU ahead for good with his eighth-inning home. Cougar freshman Sean McNaughton, victimized by the wind with a couple of pop-up errors, extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a double in the eighth.
On Saturday, McNaughton's hitting streak ended, along with the Cougar's win streak.
The Cougars return home to host Lewis and Clark State, ranked No. 2 in the NAIA, on Tuesday. On Thursday, BYU begins a three-game series with San Diego State.