Nevada Baseball fell in a hard fought battle against Saint Mary’s on Tuesday, but took the series in their weekend slate against their conference foe in Albuquerque.
The Wolf Pack are 18-17 overall and improved to 8-10 in conference play.
Tuesday, April 9 at Saint Mary’s
Nevada fell to Saint Mary’s 12-5 in an extra-innings thriller.
Eight pitchers were used for the Pack in the 12-inning contest. Tyler Smith suffered his third loss of the season. He surrendered one unearned run in the final frame.
Jaylon McLaughlin went 3-4 with three RBI’s off the bench. He recorded his team-leading 15th stolen base of the season. Tyler Bosetti picked up his first hit since March 24 against UNLV, going 2-5 with a triple and an RBI.
The Gaels jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead. Kevin Milam began the second inning with a solo home run, his fourth of the season. The Gaels were able to plate another run in the following frame on an RBI single from Joe Vranesh. The bases were loaded with one out, but Josh Jackson was able to get out of the jam with a strikeout and groundout to the pitcher.
Saint Mary’s converted for two more runs in the fourth inning, walking into the fifth inning with a 4-0 lead. A bases loaded walk by Hatten put Nevada on the board. McLaughlin’s two-RBI single cut the Gaels’ lead to 4-3.
Saint Mary’s plated one in the sixth inning. The Pack battled back in the following frame, tying the contest at five after Bosetti’s first triple of the season and a one-out single from McLaughlin.
Relievers Bradley Bonnenfant and Grant Ford pitched five combined innings, allowing only three baserunners on one hit. Smith came in to begin the 12th inning, replacing Ford. A triple and two walks loaded the bases with no outs.
A throwing error from the Pack sent the fans home happy in a contest that lasted nearly four-and-a-half hours.
The Pack head to Albuquerque for a three-game weekend slate against the Lobos, beginning Friday, April 12.
Friday, April 12 at New Mexico
The Pack fell 6-4 in game one of the three-game weekend slate against the Lobos, evening up the season series at two apiece.
Ryan Anderson toed the slab for the Pack Friday, suffering his second loss of the season. Anderson allowed four runs through five innings, striking out only one.
Josh Zamora went 3-4 with two doubles, driving in the first run of the game on a single through the left side which plated Weston Hatten.
Conor Allard drove in Dillan Shrum on an RBI double to put the Pack up 2-0 in the first inning.
Allard drove in his second RBI on the day on a fielder’s choice, driving in McLaughlin from third to give the Pack a 3-0 lead. Matt Clayton doubled down the left field line, scoring Zamora.
The Pack didn’t score for the rest of the contest, as the Lobos plated six unanswered. The Lobos drove one across on a fielder’s choice in the fourth after having runners on the corners with one out.
The Lobos took command of the contest in the fifth. A two-run home run by Tyler Kelly brought New Mexico to within one run. Back-to-back doubles, followed by a sacrifice fly later in the inning gave the Lobos a 5-4 advantage.
The Pack reached base only once in the final four frames, on a seventh inning walk by Hatten. However, Hatten was thrown out on a strike ‘em out, throw ‘em out on an attempted steal at second base. Nevada struck out nine times from the sixth to the ninth inning, striking out a season-high 17 times on the evening. Those 17 strikeouts are one more than their previous strikeout total the game before versus Saint Mary’s which was at 16,
The Lobos reached one more across on a two-out triple in the seventh, the final run of the contest.
Saturday, April 13 at New Mexico
Phenomenal pitching and timely hitting gave the Pack a 3-0 victory to even up the series.
Right hander Owen Sharts picked up his third victory on the season. He struck out one, allowing two hits in 5.1 shutout innings. The freshman now has two shutout outings on the season, with the first coming in his first start of the season against Texas State.
Jaylon McLaughlin’s only hit on the day came in the first inning, blasting a solo home run to give the Pack a 1-0 lead. The Pack only tallied six hits on the afternoon. Josh Zamora went 1-for-2 with an RBI. Conor Allard went 2-for-4, striking out once. Allard was the only player to have a multi-hit performance.
After surrendering a one-out triple in the sixth inning, Grant Ford replaced Sharts. Ford was able to get two quick outs, getting out the jam unscathed.
Nevada plated two more insurance runs in the seventh inning. Matt Clayton hurried home on a wild pitch, followed by Tyler Bosetti reaching across on Zamora’s 23rd RBI on the season.
Sunday, April 14 at New Mexico:
Big efforts from Otis Statum, Bosetti and Shrum propelled the Nevada offense to their second-highest scoring game of the season, earning a 14-8 victory over New Mexico.
Nevada’s bats centered their success once again, tallying 12 hits. They have now recorded 12-plus hits seven times this season, going 6-1 when they reach that feat.
Bosetti put together his first four-hit performance of the season, going 4-5 with two RBI’s. DIllan Shrum crushed his conference-leading eighth home run on the season, finishing 2-3 with three RBI’s.
Bradley Bonnenfant earned his fifth victory of the season coming out of the bullpen. He pitched 2.2 one-run innings, surrendering five hits and striking out five.
The Pack put together a four-run inning in the third inning. A double by Zamora, with a walk by Shrum put two men on with two outs.
Allard and Hatten had two back-to-back two-out doubles, plating three combined runs. Hatten then reached across on a double from Bosetti, giving the Pack a 4-1 lead.
The Pack continued to pile on insurance runs. Shrum crushed a 1-2 pitch over the left field wall for a two-run shot in the fifth, after McLaughlin singled to begin the inning. Smith plated Bosetti later in the inning on a two-out double, giving Nevada a 7-1 lead. Justin Watari cut the Nevada lead to 7-3 after a two-RBI single from Just Hatari.
The bats continued to take over, putting together seven runs on three hits in the sixth inning. Shrum beamed a single up the middle, plating Marco Valenzuela. Nevada loaded the bases with two outs. Hatten drew a seven-pitch walk, followed by Bosetti’s second RBI on the afternoon, giving Nevada a 10-3 lead.
The Pack extended their lead to eleven runs after a grand slam from Otis Statum, his second home run of the season.
Nevada’s bullpen let up a little bit towards the end of the game, with New Mexico scoring in the seventh and ninth innings. Nevada had more than enough insurance to capture the series victory and took the season-series versus their conference foe.
Nevada finish their five-game road trip on Tuesday, April 16, traveling to San Francisco before heading home for a weekend series against UNLV.
Matt Hanifan can be reached at dstrugs@sagebrush.unr.edu and on Twitter @SagebrushSports.
