PROVO -- A pair of home runs by freshman Kainoa Obrey brought BYU back into the game that had gotten away Friday, but UNLV hung on to an 11-9 victory.

After the starting time was delayed 40 minutes due to rain, UNLV opened an 8-0 lead in the second inning to claim its second straight victory over BYU. Six of those runs were unearned after two outs had been recorded in that inning when the Rebels chased starter Micah Mangrum off the mound.

UNLV's pitching baffled the Cougars who struck out 16 times in the game. So mystifying was the strike zone that BYU assistant coach David Eldredge was tossed from the game after arguing in frustration with the umpire in the ninth inning.

The frustration started in the second inning when UNLV ripped seven of its 20 hits after two outs during pelting rains.

"We kept thinking he (Mangrum) is going to get the next guy, he'll get the next one and before we knew it, we had given up six runs," said BYU Coach Vance Law. "We fought back except for three of the innings, but you can't take anything away from UNLV, they are a team to be reckoned with."

BYU rallied back in the bottom of the second when Obrey led off and belted the first of his two homers. Cougar Nick Day hit a three-run homer to finish off the rest of that five-run rally. Obrey's 10th homer of the season in the third closed the gap to 8-6.

UNLV got a lead-off homer from Nate Kaup in the fourth, who also doubled in the final run during the eighth.

BYU got a two-run pinch-hit homer from Ty Haguewood in the seventh. Day, the only Cougar who did not strike out during the afternoon, drove in the final run with a single in the eighth.

Winning pitcher Joe Maruffi struck out seven Cougars, while reliever Giovanni Pupo earned his first save of the year and struck out nine. Pupo escaped jams in the sixth and seventh innings when BYU stranded pairs of runners.

BYU, now 22-19 overall and 10-7 in the Mountain West Conference, hosts UNLV, 12-25 overall and 4-11, in a final regular season game on Saturday at noon.

The Automated ScoreBook
                  UNLV Rebels at Brigham Young Univ. (Game 1)
                   Apr 14, 2000 at Provo, Utah (Cougar Field)
UNLV Rebels 11 (12-25,4-11 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
OKUDA, Cody 2b...........  5  1  3  1   0  0  3  2   0
CRUZ, John cf............  6  1  2  2   0  1  1  0   0
KITSCH, Trent 1b.........  5  1  2  1   1  0  5  0   2
MANLEY, Adam rf..........  6  2  3  1   0  2  1  0   2
KAUP, Nate dh............  5  2  3  2   0  1  0  0   1
SEYBERT, Denny lf........  5  1  2  1   0  1  1  0   3
MALOFF, Brad ss..........  3  0  0  1   1  0  1  3   0
BETTS, Harold c..........  5  1  2  1   0  1 15  3   3
STRONG, Zach 3b..........  5  2  3  0   0  0  0  1   1
MARUFFI, Joe p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 PUPO, Giovanni p........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 45 11 20 10   2  6 27  9  12
Brigham Young Univ. 9 (22-19,10-7 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
BELLISTON, Shane cf......  3  0  1  0   0  1  3  0   0
 JACKSON, DJ ph/cf.......  2  0  1  0   0  1  0  0   0
MATHIS, Nate 2b..........  4  1  1  1   1  1  5  3   0
DAY, Nick lf.............  4  1  2  4   1  0  0  1   3
CARSON, Matt rf..........  3  1  1  0   1  1  2  0   1
WHITLEY, Aaron dh........  2  0  0  0   1  1  0  0   2
 ROCK, David ph..........  2  0  0  0   0  2  0  0   0
OBREY, Kainoa 3b.........  4  2  2  2   1  2  2  1   0
PETERSON, Craig 1b.......  3  1  1  0   0  1  5  1   1
 HAGUEWOOD, Ty ph/1b.....  2  1  1  2   0  1  2  0   0
KING, Seth ss............  4  1  0  0   0  2  1  6   0
CLOWARD, Casey c.........  2  0  0  0   0  2  4  0   0
 DAVIES, Michael ph/c....  2  1  1  0   0  1  3  1   0
MANGRUM, Micah p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 OPDAHL, Jordan p........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 GRAY, Rusty p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 37  9 11  9   5 16 27 13   7
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
UNLV Rebels......... 080 101 100 - 11 20  1
Brigham Young Univ.. 051 000 210 -  9 11  6
-------------------------------------------
E - STRONG; BELLISTON; JACKSON; MATHIS; KING 2; CLOWARD. DP - BYU Cougars 2.
LOB - UNLV 12; BYU Cougars 7. 2B - OKUDA; KITSCH; KAUP; SEYBERT; BETTS;
MATHIS. 3B - JACKSON. HR - KAUP(4); DAY(3); OBREY 2(9); HAGUEWOOD(5). HBP -
KAUP; CARSON. SH - OKUDA. SF - MALOFF. SB - CRUZ. CS - SEYBERT; CARSON;
WHITLEY.
UNLV Rebels            IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
MARUFFI, Joe........  5.0  7  6  2  3  7 21 25
PUPO, Giovanni......  4.0  4  3  2  2  9 16 18
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
MANGRUM, Micah......  1.2  8  8  2  0  1 13 15
OPDAHL, Jordan......  4.1 11  3  3  2  2 23 26
GRAY, Rusty.........  3.0  1  0  0  0  3  9  9
Win - MARUFFI (4-4).  Loss - MANGRUM (5-6).  Save - PUPO (1).
HB - MARUFFI; MANGRUM. PB - BETTS.
Umpires - Home:Ray Belfiore  1st:Mike Andrews  3rd:Dale Luker
Start: 2:40   Time: 3:08   Attendance: 363
Game notes:
Game Two of Three in Provo
OPDAHL faced 2 batters in the 7th.