Nevada looked to continue their four-game winning streak with a series sweep of the Central Arkansas Bears on Sunday Afternoon at Peccole Park. The Wolf Pack won the first two games of the series with a combined score of 30-17 and with Brock Stassi on the hill and his 2-0 record and 0.73 ERA, things looked good for the Pack.

However, Central Arkansas came out swinging in an attempt to avoid the sweep.  They took an early 1-0 lead with a home run from first baseman Ethan Harris in the second at-bat of the game.  Stassi got out of the inning when shortstop Kevin Rodland snared a line drive and doubled off the Michael Pair at first base.

Nevada got on the board in the bottom of the third when Rodland reached on a double.  The Pack shortstop used his wheels to get to third as he stole on the first pitch of Westely Moss’ at bat.  Moss reached on an infield single down the first baseline as he beat out Bears first baseman Ethan Harris in a foot race to the bag, scoring Rodland.

The Bears struck back in the next inning when Zack Dickson hit a two-out, two-RBI double off the right center field wall to put the Central Arkansas up 3-1.

But Nevada slugger Nick Leid started things off with a walk and moved to third on a hard hit double down the third baseline by Garrett Yrigoyen which slipped just past the outstretched arms of Bears third baseman Blake Roberts.  Brett Hart sacrificed to second base to score Leid, but Yrigoyen would get stuck on third as Carlos Escobar struck out to end the inning with the Pack trailing 3-2.

The purple and black would tack on another run against the silver and blue in the fifth with some aggressive baserunning.  Jordan Getchell would score after walking and stealing second on a single to center field by Pair to take a 4-2 lead.

Nevada threatened in the bottom of the fifth but could not convert after getting Moss and Kort on first and second with one out.  Moss stole third and the Pack had runners on the corners but Leid struck out to end the inning with Nevada still trailing by two.

Nevada starter Brock Stassi was pulled in the sixth with a runner on first and one out.  Coming in to replace Stassi was Jayson McClaren who got out of the inning on a 6-4-3 double play.  Stassi finished his day by going 5 1/3 innings with 5 strikeouts, plus 3 walks, 7 hits and 4 earned runs.

Central Arkansas extended their lead in the seventh when Pair, the Central Arkansas catcher, hit a clutch opposite field two out single to give the Bears a 5-2 lead.

As they’ve done the past two games, Nevada would try for the comeback.  They threatened for the lead in the bottom of the inning with pinch hitter Michael Turay reaching on an error followed by a Rodland walk.  With runners on first and second and nobody out Nevada Westely Moss came up to the plate.  Moss hit into the dreaded 6-4-3 double play that moved Turay to third. With two out Nevada first baseman Shaun Kort came to the plate and shot a high fly ball that carried over the center field fence to cut the Bears lead to 5-4. For Kort, it was his third bomb of the season.

Central Arkansas answered once again in the top of the eighth.  Tye Thorneberry hit a bullet past Yrigoyen at third base to score Jake Fuller from second after Fuller led off the inning with a deep drive off the center field wall for a double. From there, the Bears Game 1 starter and ace Michael Wild came in to close the door on the Pack, pitching two shutout innings to avoid the sweep.

Central Arkansas-Nevada Box Score

Central Arkansas-Nevada Game 1 Slideshow (Premium)

The Pack host Saint Mary’s tomorrow at 2:00 PM.