Glenn Connelly, Staff Photographer

When the going gets tough, a sport can seem like hard labor – just another unpleasant job unpleasant to toil through.

And for almost a month, baseball was hard work for San Diego State.

But sometimes, it takes a winning streak to remember that baseball is just a game.

On Sunday night, SDSU won its third straight game, holding off UNLV’s late rally to secure the 11-10 win at Tony Gwynn Stadium.

“I’m happy for the guys,” head coach Tony Gwynn said. “It’s easy to fold the tent when you’re 6-23, but they played really good baseball the last four days. They’ve done a better job of executing, getting bunts down and getting runners over.”

As Gwynn likes to say, baseball can be a simple game when a team executes, and SDSU’s bats proved the maxim true against the Rebels (14-17 overall, 2-2 in Mountain West Conference).

Sunday was child’s play for the Aztec hitters, who looked relaxed at the plate throughout the weekend, their collective shoulders not nearly as tense as during the team’s 14-game winless streak last month.

SDSU hitters approached the plate with confidence and poise during the last three games, a marked improvement from their at-bats in the previous 14.

Seven different Aztecs collected hits as Rebel starter Ryan Tabor allowed eight runs in five innings before being pulled.

The Aztecs (9-24, 3-1) were strong from top to bottom at the dish against UNLV, but much of the major damage was done by the middle of the lineup. Seniors Paul Smyth and Curt Mendoza and junior Lance Zawadzki combined to go 7-for-9 with a double, a triple and eight of the team’s 11 runs scored.

With the game tied at four and two outs in the bottom of the third inning, SDSU took the lead when Mendoza’s chopper found the hole between third base and shortstop, scoring Smyth from second base.

“Once we got even, we thought we could do some things, and Smyth and (Mendoza) had big days,” Gwynn said. “We got some really big hits and had some good at-bats with two outs.”

The Aztecs picked the right game to bring their big bats because their bullpen allowed the Rebels to get back into the game – as usual.

Gwynn rolled the dice by dipping into the bullpen sooner rather than later, replacing senior starting pitcher Will Miller, who allowed three runs in just 1 1/3 innings. For much of the game, Gwynn’s move looked like the correct play. Junior Brett Douglas (1-1) held UNLV at bay, earning the win with 5 1/3 innings of four-hit ball.

“He really threw well,” Gwynn said. “We needed him to come in and ? give the offense a chance to get (us) back in it.”

However, his fellow relievers allowed the Rebels to cut the lead to 11-10.

In the ninth inning, Gwynn called for junior starter Justin Masterson to finish the game. Masterson retired UNLV’s hitters in order to collect the save.

“You get down to the last day, and, luckily, it was Justin’s throw-day so he was able to close it for us,” Gwynn said.

SDSU will take its three-game winning streak against No. 2 CSU Fullerton, as the two will square off at 6 p.m. today at Tony Gwynn Stadium.