Over the weekend, Nevada, who entered the series 19-17 won two out of three games against UNLV. Nevada had their bats to thank as the Wolf Pack were able to get 16 runners to cross the plate in two separate games, which tied their season-high in runs per game.
April 18, Game One
The bats jolted alive for Nevada on Thursday night when the Pack took on in-state rival UNLV beating the Rebels 16-8. The Pack tied their season-high in runs, largely due to two home runs from junior Dillan Shrum who now leads the Mountain West with 10 on the season.
It was a busy day for the Wolf Pack having eight out of nine Pack starters recording at least one hit — five players recorded multi-hit games.
Ryan Anderson got the nod to start for Nevada, pitching 4.2 innings while striking out three batters. Shane Gustafson picked up the victory, pitching two innings and allowing only three hits and one unearned run.
Both teams started off with runs in the first before Nevada exploded in the fourth inning putting up four runs, largely in part to a 2-run home run by Shrum.
From then on it was all Pack offense, Marco Valenzuela and Shrum both had four RBI’s which helped contribute to the Pack’s total of 15 on the day.
April 19, Game Two
The Wolf Pack dropped the second of the series Friday night, falling to the Rebels 7-4. The bats carried over into Friday night’s game, resulting in three home runs for the Pack including Conor Allard’s first career home run.
The freshman Owen Sharts got the start for the Pack, giving up six hits and four earned runs in four innings. Nevada pitched great down the stretch thanks in part to Cooper Powell and Josh Congress only allowing two hits through the final 3.2 innings.
Nevada started hot as Weston Hatten smashed his sixth homer of the year to put the Pack up 1-0 in the first. Both offenses were quiet until the third when UNLV was able to score two runs on a single and a groundout.
The Rebels were able to extend the lead to 7-1 in the sixth but was quickly silenced by Conor Allard’s first home run in the seventh to put the Pack to within five.
The Pack put together a late push behind sophomore Joshua Zamora’s eighth home run on the year in the ninth inning to bring the Pack within three. Unfortunately, the rally fell short as the Pack lost 7-4 to the Rebels.
The Wolf Pack turned their sights to the rubber match on Saturday.
April 20, Game Three
Nevada took care of business on Saturday in the final game of the series against the Rebels. The Wolf Pack recorded a season-high 17 hits and blasted three home runs as Nevada took the series and ends the season 3-3 in the Silver State Series against UNLV.
The pitching for the Pack was solid as Jake Jackson took the mound to start against the Rebels. Jackson pitched 4.1 innings giving up four runs on nine hits. Grant Ford was able to close the rest of the game out, surrendering only one run on four hits.
Weston Hatten stood out for Nevada, going 4-4 with three RBI’s and one home run. Freshmen Matt Clayton and Nick Seamons also contributed with three RBI’s on the day.
Early on it was all Pack, led by Clayton who hit two home runs to give Nevada an early 2-0 lead in the fourth. Seamons extended the Wolf Pack lead to four as he singled to left and was able to hit in Jaylon McLaughlin and Tyler Bosetti.
The Rebels were able to tie the game thanks to a four-run fifth inning. The tie was short lived as the Pack exploded for eight runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, making the game 12-4 with two innings remaining.
Nevada was able to hold on to the lead and beat UNLV 16-5, improving to 21-18 on the season and 10-11 in the Mountain West. Currently, the Pack are sitting in fifth place in the Mountain West standings.
The Pack now turn their sights to Oregon State, the No. 2 team in the AP Poll. The series against Oregon State will be a quick two-game series that will be held at Peccole Park Monday, April 22, at 6:05 p.m. and Tuesday, April 23, at noon.
Austin Paschke can be reached at dstrugs@sagebrush.unr.edu and on Twitter @SagebrushSports.
