The Nevada Wolf Pack were looking for the sweep in the series finale against UC-Irvine on Sunday at Peccole Park, but the Anteaters came out swinging and avoided the sweep with a 10-3 victory.

Starting on the mound for Nevada was Brock Stassi (3-2, 2.64 ERA) and the Anteaters wasted little time getting to the Nevada ace.  Irvine got on the board in the second when their designated hitter Ronnie Shaeffer doubled to the gap scoring Francis Larson from second. That put the No. 13 ranked team in the country up 1-0 early.

Irvine added to their lead in the third when Larson singled to right field, scoring Sean Madigan from third to push the Anteater lead to 2-0.

Nevada would climb right back in it though in the second.  Second Baseman Joe Kohan started things off for the Silver and Blue with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Carlos Escobar, Jr.  Pack shortstop Kevin Rodland followed that with a hard hit double down the left field line to score Kohan.  The Pack took advantage of a defensive mistake to tie the game after Westely Moss’ bloop single to right field advanced Rodland to third.  With the speedy Moss on first and threatening to steal, Anteaters pitcher Eric Pettis balked in an attempt to keep Moss at first, scoring Rodland and advancing Moss to second as the Pack pulled even with Irvine 2-2 after three.

“We knew what they were doing there,” said Nevada head coach Gary Powers.  “They were trying to bait Moss off first base and it was something they had done all weekend and they got called for it.”

The Anteaters responded with a big four run fifth inning to take control of the game.  Irvine strung together hits while the Nevada defense helped them out with a couple fielding miscues.  Rodland missed a double-play opportunity as the ball hit off his glove and rolled through to centerfield.  Additionally, Westely Moss dropped a fly ball in center field allowing two more runs to score giving Irvine a comfy 6-2 lead.

“I took my eye off it,” Moss said.  “I just didn’t watch it all the way into my glove but there are no excuses there, I should have caught it.”

Nevada responded with a threat of their own in the fifth but could only manage a run in the inning.  Shaun Kort plated Escobar on a double down the left field line to make it 6-3, but Ronnie Mitchell struck out with the bases loaded to end the Nevada rally.

Irvine wasted no time getting the run back as they chased Stassi from the game before recording an out in the sixth.  Stassi was replaced by Tom Jameson after walking the leadoff hitter, and then giving up a double to Casey Stevenson that scored Madigan from first.  The Anteaters would tack on another run on a sacrifice fly to take an 8-3 lead halfway through six.

Stassi gave up five earned runs on eight hits while striking out one in five innings of work.

“I didn’t feel my best, I made quite a few mistakes on pitches and I have to be better than that,” Stassi said of his outing.

As the game progressed further the sweep started to slip away and Irvine would add some insurance in the ninth with a home run over the left field wall to make it 10-3.  That score would become the final after Nevada went 1-2-3 in the ninth.

With the loss Nevada fell to 12-11 on the year.  Up next for the Wolf Pack will be a matchup with the rivals from the south as Nevada faces UNLV at 4 p.m. at Peccole Park on Tuesday.

After the series with UC-Irvine was over, we caught up with Coach Powers, plus a number of Wolf Pack players, to get their assessment of the team this past weekend.

“Feels real good and we did a lot of things as a team this week and it shows.  Our dugout is picking it up, everyone is picking it up and playing as a team and it feels good,” Moss said. “This weekend the energy was bouncing off one another and we played as a team. It’s all about the team.

“We made huge leaps this weekend and we have a few more things to work on and work out the kinks.”

“It was a good weekend. Anytime you can take two out of three from a team like that it’s a good win.  If we build off this weekend we’re going to be tough to beat,” Stassi said.

“I don’t know where those triples came from.” Stassi added, when questioned about his three triples this weekend.

“I thought our team really grew up this weekend and played more to the level that we know they can play. That’s a quality team and program over there (Irvine) and I thought we played real well against them,” Coach Powers said. “I feel a lot better this weekend than I did last weekend, I’m proud of our kids for making some mental adjustments and some attitude adjustments towards coming out and being a more competitive team.”