Nevada splits doubleheader with La Tech
Mark Littlefield | Share this:
The final home series of the season for the Wolf Pack kicked off Friday afternoon at Peccole Park as the Silver and Blue squared off against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (26-25) with several Pack seniors playing in Reno for the last time.
Starting for Nevada (31-19-1) was Tom Jameson who came into the game with a 4-1 record to go with his 4.35 ERA and 20 strikeouts. The Bulldogs was had Trevor Petersen, who came in to the game with a 5-7 record and 7.19 ERA in 17 appearance, on the hill.
After a scoreless first Louisiana Tech got on the board in the second inning after a series of Nevada mistakes allowed the Bulldogs to take a 1-0 lead. Devon Dageford reached on a throwing error by Pack shortstop Kevin Rodland and advanced to second on the wild throw. Dageford advanced to third on a past ball and scored when Clint Ewing singled down the right field line to put Tech up 1-0.
Two hitless innings later, Nevada got on the board in the third. Shaun Kort reached on a walk and advanced to second on a ground out by Nick Melino. Kort, the all-time games played record holder at Nevada, scored on Brian Barnett’s single up the middle. Barnett came around to score from first when Bulldog left fielder Kyle Roliard fumbled Brock Stassi’s double to give the Silver and Blue a 2-1 lead after three.
The Bulldogs wasted no time striking back as they regained the lead the next half inning when Taylor Terrasas hit a two-RBI single through the right side of the infield with runners on second and third to give La. Tech a 3-2 lead halfway through four.
It was only fitting that on senior weekend Nevada’s star senior came up with the big hit. Trailing 3-2 in the fourth Shaun Kort stepped to the plate and hit a three run home run over the 380-foot marker in left center field to put Nevada up 5-3. It was the 300th hit of Kort’s decorated career at Nevada.
Louisiana Tech pulled within a run when designate hitter Will Alvis hit a solo home run that carried over the left field fence thanks to the strong wind at Peccole Park to make it 5-4 in the sixth.
Nevada extended the lead in the sixth when Barnett hit his 15th home run of the season over the center field fence. Barnett’s bomb tied him for tenth on Nevada’s single season home run list and it also gave the Pack an 8-4 lead after six.
Beau Witsoe replaced starter Tom Jameson and was saved with some nice defense after giving up a run in the seventh. Witsoe got out of a first and third jam with one out when Kevin Rodland made a nice defensive stop to turn the double play and get out of the inning with an 8-5 lead.
Tyler Graham replaced Witsoe in the eighth with runners on first and second with one out as Graham was coming in for a five out save. Great defense from Kort helped Nevada out of the jam as he made a nice play on a grounder and an even better scoop on a diving play by third baseman Garrett Yrigoyen to end the inning.
Graham completed the five out save when Rodland made up for his fielding errors with another great defensive play as he started the 6-4-3 double play to end the game as Nevada held on for the 8-5 victory. With the win Nevada improved to 32-19-1 on the year.
Barnett continues to smoke the ball
Game 2
Game two of this doubleheader was a disaster from the start for the Pack. Despite sending former JUCO standout Jeremy Cole and his 4-1 record to the mound, Cole got one of the ten batters he faced out. The Bulldogs scorched him for 9 first inning runs on five doubles and four singles, batting around on the junior hurler. In a short 7-inning game, that deficit would prove insurmountable for Nevada.
The Pack would add runs in the first, third, fourth and fifth innings, racking up a total of 8 runs, but at the end of the game Tech would nail down the win by a final score of 14-8. Brian Barnett would provide most of the damage with his tremendous bat, popping two homers in the night cap to increase his total to 17 on the season.
Of course, the good news for Nevada is that one of the top two spots in the WAC Tournament, with each team earning a first-round bye, is still on the table. Fresno State dropped a 12-2 decision to Sacramento State on Friday. Since Nevada now sports a 12-9-1 conference record (two games left), and Fresno State’s WAC record now stands at 13-8 (with three games left), the possibility remains that Nevada can move past the Bulldogs for second place.
However, the bad news for the Nevada baseball team tonight after the loss to Louisiana Tech is that it appears they can no longer win an outright WAC regular season championship. New Mexico State, which holds a 2-1-1 record against Nevada this year, and boasts a final 14-9-1 conference record, has the tiebreaker over Nevada due to their head-to-head record. With some help from Sacramento State against Fresno State, Nevada can hope for a tie though. NMSU would earn the No. 1 seed in the WAC Tournament.
