Photo by Rachel Jackson. Nevada loses against the Spartans 5-6, 14-3 and 2-9.

Nevada baseball traveled to San Jose State University on April 22 to 24 for a three game series. They started off with a close game, swept the Spartans in the second and lost the third. 

Game 1

The Wolf Pack began their away series with an evening game starting at 6:08 p.m. on Friday. The coastal breeze brought the temperature to a cool 61 degrees during the almost three-hour game. 

Peyton Stumbo and Russell Hicks pitched for Nevada. Stumbo was on the field for six innings and Hicks took two innings. 

T.J. Bruce, Nevada’s head coach, was ejected in the top of the first inning with no outs. 

SJSU scored first in the game in the bottom of the first. Hunter Dorraugh hit a home run with two runners on base to make the score 3-0. 

Nevada got one run in the second inning. Matt Clayton’s fly out RBI, run batter in, allowed Anthony Flores to score. Nevada got on the scoreboard at 1-3. 

The fourth inning is where the Spartans added one more run to their score from an RBI fly out. 

Nevada was on a roll in the sixth inning and took the lead with the score 5-4. Pat Caulfield and Dario Gomez hit singles. Joshua Zamora was up to bat and doubled down the left field line for Caulfield to score. The Spartans changed their pitcher, and Flores was walked. Landon Wallace made a big hit to center field that brought in three runs. 

SJSU was able to take the lead back in the seventh inning when an RBI double had two runners score. The Spartans finished the game winning 6-5. 

Game 2

The Saturday afternoon game for Nevada was filled with home runs toward the end of the game. 

Cam Walty, Jacob Biesterfeld and Jordan Jackson pitched this game. This was Jordan Jackson’s first time pitching this season since recovering from an elbow injury from the 2020 season.

Nevada started off the scoring in the first inning when Flores had an RBI fly out. SJSU tied the game in the fourth inning with a home run by Dorraugh. 

Like in game one, Nevada’s bats came alive in the sixth inning. This time, they added eight runs to the scoreboard. Tyler Bosetti had a perfect set-up with bases loaded due to Flores being hit by a pitch, and Wallace and Dawson Martin walking. Bosetti’s RBI single to right field brought one runner in. The Spartans changed their pitcher, and Nevada adjusted easily.

Clayton hit an RBI fly out to add one run to the score. Ryan Jackson singled to left field and Martin touched home plate. Caulfield also hit a single to bring one run in. Gomez kept it going by hitting another single which led Jackson to score. The Spartans changed their pitcher again. 

A wild pitch led Gomez to score. Wallace was up next and hit an RBI single that led two runs to come in. The Wolf Pack was up 9-1. 

The home runs started in the seventh inning with Clayton. He was second up to bat and faced a new Spartan pitcher. His home run was hit to left field, making the score 10-1. 

SJSU had a home run also in the seventh inning. Makana Olaso’s hit went to left field and brought two runners in. The Spartans scored 3-10 against Nevada. 

Nevada made the most out of their last at bat. Martin started the ninth inning with a home run to left field. Clayton copied Martin to add one more run. Gomez also had a home run, bringing in one runner on base. Nevada increased their lead and finalized the game with a score of 14-3. 

Game 3

Casey Burfield started pitching for Nevada and stayed for four innings. Tyler Cochran was put in during the fifth inning and pitched 1.1 innings. Kade Morris took the mound for 2.2 innings. 

With Nevada up to bat first, Caulfield, Stinson and Gomez all made contact but the field was able to get them out. 

Wallace brought in the first run for Nevada in the second inning. He had an RBI single up the middle and Flores scored. The second run for Nevada came in the fifth inning. Stinson hit a fly out to left field and Bosetti made it home. They took a 2-0 lead. 

It was a long defensive fifth inning for Nevada and a great offensive one for SJSU. It took seven batters for Nevada to get the first out. Two runs were scored on an RBI double. Two more were scored from another RBI double by a pinch hitter. Finally, a home run to left field added another two to the scoreboard. SJSU took the lead 6-2. Tyler Cochran came in to pitch for Burfield after the home run. He struck one batter out and two batters hit groundouts. 

SJSU got another run in the sixth inning from an RBI single to center field. In the eighth inning, they gained two more runs from another home run. The final score was 9-2. The Spartans won the series 2-1.

This is the first time since 2017 that the Spartans won a series against Nevada. Nevada is now 13-8 in conference play and 21-17 overall.

Next up, the Wolf Pack travels to the University of Arizona to face the Wildcats in a four game, non-conference series on April 28 to May 3.

Kelsey Middleton can be reached at kelseymiddleton@sagebrush.unr.edu or on Twitter @kelsmiddleunr