In the first of a three-game Mountain West series, the San Diego State Aztecs (6-19, 2-4 Mountain West) defeated the University of Nevada Las Vegas Rebels (14-10, 2-4 MW) by a score of 3-2.

The biggest storyline coming into the game was head coach Shaun Cole shaking up the weekend’s rotation. Right-hander Marko Sipila started the Friday night game, a job that was held by righty Omar Serrano.

“It’s kind of been a dream of mine,” Sipila said. “To pitch on Friday nights here, so it felt really good to go out there and set the tone for this weekend.”

Serrano came into the season as SDSU’s number one starter, but his early-season struggles, a 1-3 record and 11.62 ERA, led to the change. Meanwhile, Sipila (1-2, 5.35 ERA) has emerged as one of the more consistent starting pitchers for the Aztecs.

“If he pitches like that, it’s permanent,” Cole said. “If Marko can do that and Omar can get back to who he is, we essentially will have two Friday night guys, which will be huge.”

Making his seventh start of the season, Sipila had a stellar one-two-three top of the first, capping it off by striking out UNLV’s best hitter in first baseman Dean Toigo.

Right-hander Carson Lane (2-2, 3.82 ERA) started the game for the Rebels. Lane is coming off a combined no-hitter in his last start against Fresno State.

Following two quick outs, the Aztecs hit back-to-back singles from third baseman Daniel Arambula and first baseman Nevan Noonan. Right fielder Zane Kelly followed that up by reaching on a fielding error to load the bases.

Center fielder Jake Jackson showed perfect plate discipline in an eight-pitch at-bat as he drew a walk to bring in a run and give SDSU an early 1-0 lead. That was all the offense for the Aztecs as a pop-out to third ended the scoring threat.

Sipila struggled early in the top of the second as two singles put runners on the corners with one out. UNLV tied the game on a sac fly to center, but Sipila got a ground out to limit the damage.

Lane retired the Aztecs in order in the bottom of the second with two strikeouts and a groundout.

Both pitchers faced a minimum of three batters in the third inning, with both of them getting inning-ending strikeouts.

In Sipila’s fourth inning of work, Toigo belted a lead-off double to left as he extended his on-base streak to 20 games. After a single to left advanced Toigo to third, UNLV took a lead 2-1 on another sac fly to left.

The righty bounced back with his third strikeout of the game and a groundout right to him to get the final two outs.

Lane continued his dominance following the first inning as he got two quick outs and retired his ninth straight Aztec in order. However, designated hitter Josh Quezada drew a walk to give SDSU their first base runner since the bottom of the first.

Catcher Evan Sipe hit a single up the middle to give SDSU a chance to tie the game with two outs, but the inning ended on a ground out to the shortstop.

Sipila gave up a lead-off walk to catcher Chase Gallegos to start the fifth, who advanced to second on a sac-bunt. An infield single to Arambula put runners on first and second, but a stellar double play from the Aztec defense ended the inning.

SDSU left fielder Jonathan Smith drew a one-out walk, and he successfully stole second to put a key runner in scoring position. Lane continued his strong outing as he got both Arambula and Noonan to fly out to right for the final two outs.

In the top of the sixth, Sipila continued his strong start as he had another one-two-three inning culminating in a strikeout on his 100th pitch of the game.

Lane struck out Kelly to kick off the sixth, but a climbing pitch count led to him being taken out of the game for righty Will Marquart (3-0, 3.94 ERA). He pitched 5.1 innings, allowing an unearned run on three hits and walks with seven strikeouts.

Marquart threw only four pitches as he got two quick outs to close out the sixth inning.

The SDSU righty remained on the mound to start the seventh inning, and even as Sipila’s pitch count reached well over 100 pitches, he pitched his second straight and fourth one-two-three inning of the game.

Sipe drew a lead-off walk in the bottom of the seventh, and he advanced to second on a wild pitch, and second baseman Finley Bates was hit by the pitch to put two runners on. SDSU tied the game on a single from Arambula and took a 3-2 lead as Noonan hit a single of his own. The rally ended as Kelly grounded out to Marquart to end a strong offensive inning.

Sipila pitched his third straight one-two-three inning in the top of the eighth, ending it with his ninth strikeout of the game. The righty finished his outing with 8.0 innings pitched, giving up two runs on five hits and one walk with nine strikeouts.

“[Sipila’s outing] is huge, just from a momentum standpoint,” Cole said. “To give our offense a chance, to get something going to either get us back into the game, tie it, or give us the lead… If your guy is doing that, it’s going to give energy and momentum to your team.”

Marquart was replaced in the bottom of the eighth by righty Michael Taylor (1-0, 3.6 ERA). Jackson drew a lead-off walk and attempted to run to third on a ground out to the shortstop, but he was thrown out. The right-hander struck out Sipe for the final out in the bottom of the eighth.

Righty closer Xavier Cardenas (0-3, 7.61 ERA) came into the game in the top of the ninth to get the final three outs and earn the save. With UNLV’s heart of the batting order due up, Cardenas pitched a perfect top of the ninth to close out a 3-2.

SDSU ends a tough six-game losing streak to improve to 7-19 with a 3-4 conference record, while the Rebels drop to 14-11 with a 2-5 MW record.

Sipila gets credited with the win to move to 2-2, Marquart gets the losing pitcher as he falls to 3-1, and Cardenas gets his second save of the season.

“Let’s get two more victories,” Sipila said.