The University of Nevada baseball wrapped up their four-game non-conference series against the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors this past Sunday. The Rainbow Warriors were coming off of a four-game sweep of the San Jose State Spartans. On the other hand, the Wolf Pack split their last four games, winning two out of three games against Air Force and dropping one against the San Francisco Dons. The Wolf Pack won one game and dropped the other three to the Rainbow Warriors.

Game 1 (Thursday, March 30, 2017)

Nevada was able to gain an early 4-0 lead against the Rainbow Warriors through the middle of the fourth inning. However, Hawaii batted in six runs in the bottom of the inning, four in the fifth inning, and two in the sixth. Nevada’s starting pitcher, Trevor Charpie (1-4), was pulled out of the game after 3.1 innings, allowing six runs, five of which were earned.

Three Wolf Pack infielders had two hits apiece in first baseman Jordan Pearce (2-for-3, RBI), second baseman Keaton Smith (2-for-4, run), and third baseman Jaylon McLaughlin (2-for-4, RBI, run).

Game 2 (Friday, March 31, 2017)

In the second game of the series, the Wolf Pack lost a tough-fought battle against the Rainbow Warriors by a score of 3-2.

Nevada starting pitcher Mark Nowaczewski (1-4) had an impressive outing, only allowing three runs in a career-high 7.2 innings on 127 pitches. However, the Rainbow Warriors’ starter Dominic DeMiero matched Nowaczewski’s pitching performance, throwing an equally impressive seven innings.

The Wolf Pack was able to score on an RBI double by Cole Krzmarzick and an RBI single by Keaton Smith to give them the early 2-1 advantage.

Hawaii reliever Dylan Thomas replaced DeMiero and threw three shutout innings to earn the win. Like in the first game, the Wolf Pack had the early lead, boasting a 2-1 lead through seven innings. However, they were not able to hang on as the Rainbow Warriors were able to capitalize on a Dustin Demeter triple to bring home a runner. Later on in the inning, a bases loaded walk scored another run to take the lead.

Pearce (2-for-5), Smith (2-for-4, and Dillian Schrum (2-for-4) all had two hits apiece for the Wolf Pack.

Game 3 (Saturday, April 1, 2017)

In the penultimate game of the series, the Nevada Baseball team bounced back to get their only victory of the series. After being tied with the Rainbow Warriors through seven innings, the Wolf Pack ran off seven straight runs to seal the victory. The win snaps the Rainbow Warriors’ seven-game winning streak and ends a three-game losing skid for the Wolf Pack.

Nevada starting pitcher Riley Ohl threw six scoreless innings, allowing only three hits while striking out four batters. Wolf Pack reliever, Ty Pennington threw two scoreless relief innings to earn his first ever career save.

Nevada scored three runs in the in the top of the eighth inning to break the tie. The scoring was sparked by an RBI double by Mike Echavia, scoring another run off of an error, and Cole Krzmarzick’s ground out brought in another run.

In the ninth inning, the Wolf Pack padded their lead with a Justin Bridgman bases-clearing triple to extend the lead to 8-2. Later on, a single by Echavia drove home Bridgman to tack on another run.

Bridgman (3-for-4, three RBI, four runs) and Echavia (4-for-5, three RBI, run) were the top performers of the day.

Game 4 (Sunday, April 2, 2017)

In the final game of the series, the Wolf Pack were unable to stage a comeback in the top of the ninth, losing by a score of 3-2.

The Wolf Pack fell behind early, allowing the Rainbow Warriors to take an early 1-0 lead. Hawaii’s Josh Rojas drove in an RBI single through the middle of the Wolf Pack defense to give them their first run. In the bottom of the third, Rojas hit another RBI triple into right field to extend the lead. He was then driven in by a single by Adam Fogel to take bring the lead to 3-0. This was their only scoring on the night.

Nevada scored a run apiece in the fourth and seventh innings but were unable to tie the game in the top of the ninth.

Pierce (3-for-5), Nevada’s most consistent hitter during the series, once again led the Wolf Pack in hitting on the night.

The Wolf Pack return home for an exhibition match against the Reno Aces at the Greater Nevada Field on Tuesday night before returning to Peccole Park for another matchup against the Saint Mary’s Gaels the following day.