Before they banged out a 10-5 win to close out their home schedule and conclude the WAC regular season, Nevada baseball honored seniors Kevin Rodland, Shaun Kort, Jesse Rasner, Chris Garcia, Tyler Graham, Daniel Tinlin, Westley Moss and Beau Witsoe. SilverandBlueSports caught some of the action, including a photo gallery.

On the day of the seniors, it was sophomore second baseman Joe Kohan who delivered the big hit.  Kohan came off the bench and hit a solo shot in the bottom half of the 7th inning to break a 5-5 tie and put the Pack on top for good.

Nevada, which held a 2 games to 1 advantage heading into the finale, sent Carson City pitcher Jesse Rasner to the hill with a 1-0 record and 4.20 ERA in 14 appearances.   The senior was in control early, striking out two in the top of the first.  The same could not be said for his opponent, Bulldog pitcher Casey Jones.

Jones had control issues early as he hit Nevada’s leadoff batter and senior shortstop Kevin Rodland with the-5 first pitch of his outing.  Jones then walked Cullen Mahoney on four straight pitches.  Jones caught a break and got out the jam when Shaun Kort couldn’t execute a hit and run which led to a strike them out-throw them out double play of Rodland.

“It wasn’t a stealing situation, it was a hit and run so I didn’t get a good jump,” Rodland said of the botched hit and run attempt.

Nevada loaded the bases in the second inning, again without getting a hit.  Nick Melino and Brock Stassi started the inning with back to back walks and Garrett Yrigoyen reached when Bulldog first baseman Alex Williams couldn’t handle the throw.  Following a Michael Turay strikeout senior center fielder Westely Moss hit a sacrifice fly that scored Melino as the Pack took a 1-0 lead after two.

The Bulldogs got on the board in the fourth when Devon Dageford crushed the Jerad Harvey offering to the deepest part of the ballpark as Westely Moss watched the ball just make it over the center field fence.  Harvey came into replace Rasner and gave up the tying run to make it 1-1.

Louisiana Tech took the lead in the fifth when Clint Ewing led off the inning with a home run as Harvey’s bad luck continued.  The first two hits Harvey surrendered were home runs that allowed the Bulldogs to take a 2-1 lead.

After a scoreless bottom half the Bulldogs extended their lead when Dageford singled in Kyle Roliard who led off the inning with a double to give Louisiana Tech a short lived 3-1 lead.

The Pack struck right back in the bottom of the sixth when Brian Barnett followed a Shaun Kort walk with a blast over the left field fence for his 18^th home run of the season.  The blast from Barnett tied the game at 3 and forced a Louisiana Tech pitching change as Will Alves came in for Mike LeBreton.

The big inning continued for the pack when Melino was hit by a pitch and Stassi followed with a walk.  A botched pickoff attempt at second to get Melino advanced both runners and a Garrett Yrigoyen single through the right side of the infield to score Melino.  Michael Turay hit into a double play that allowed Stassi to score from third and Nevada took a 5-3 lead after six innings.

Louisiana Tech struck right back as Will Alves did his best to support his pitching effort by hitting a two-run home run to tie the game at 5.   Mat Keplinger replaced Anthony Fagan to get out of the jam.

But it was Kohan, who replaced Cullen Mahoney at second earlier in the game, who picked the perfect time to hit his first home run of the season. A native of Alaska, the sophomore’s blast sailed over the 380-foot marker in left center field.  After loading the bases with one out Brock Stassi hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield to score Kort as the Pack took a 7-5 advantage into the eighth inning.

After getting through the top of the eighth unscathed Nevada went to work and threatened with runners on first and third with nobody out.  After a Rodland strikeout, Kohan came up big once again as he ripped a single that produces a pair of runs to center.  Kohan came around to score on a throwing error that came on a Shaun Kort ground ball as the Pack took a 10-5 lead into the ninth.

Nevada closer Tyler Graham, who was already on the hill for the eighth, was on cruise control with a five run lead in the ninth as he put the Bulldogs down in order for the 10-5 win.

With the win Nevada improved to 34-20-1 overall and 14-9-1 in the Western Athletic Conference which is currently good for a second place tie with New Mexico State in the final standings.  However, the Aggies hold the tiebreaker and Nevada will be the third seed when WAC Tournament play begins on Wednesday.

The Pack will be losing a significant core of their offense and some of their best defensive players as well in Kevin Rodland, Westely Moss and Shaun Kort.  Silver and Blue Sports caught up with the three Pack stars following their Senior Day victory.

“It was a great win for us, we’re on a streak right now and the weather broke for us and it was a good team win,” Rodland said following the victory but he admitted preparation wasn’t easy for this game.  “It’s tough to know it’s your last game and I’ve had some great moments on the field and off and I’ve grown a lot and it’s been a great three years.  It’s tough to see it go but it’s not done yet,” added the senior from Snohomish, Washington.

Rodland was referring to the upcoming WAC tournament and the Pack is riding high heading into Mesa, Arizona where tournament action begins on Wednesday.  Rodland sees consistency as the key, “We’re feeling good, we just have to go down there and not change a thing and keep things going.”

Morale is high and this team has every reason to believe it as they have won 10 of their last 13 while preparing for the tournament.  Some guys weren’t afraid to show that confidence.

“We’re super confident,” said Moss. “We’re clicking on all cylinders right now and everything is looking good. Our pitching has come together and our hitters are putting up ridiculous numbers and everyone is just clicking.”

One player even considers the Pack the favorites.

“I think we’re ready. We’re playing the best out of any team going in the conference and that’s the important thing.  I think we’re the favorites and we should come out on top,” Shaun Kort said.

Some seniors were sad to see today come.

“It’s a sad day. I enjoyed my time here, really enjoyed it,” Moss added. “I’m glad they gave me the opportunity to come here as they were the only Division 1 offer from my junior college and I’m just glad for the opportunity and they’ve helped me out.”

Looking back, Kort was just proud to play in front of his family during his record-setting Pack career.

“I’m just happy my family could come and watch me play. It’s been the best four years of my life on and off the field and I would not change one thing about it,” Kort said, the owner of several Nevada school records. “There has been a lot of great players to play here and to be mentioned in the same sentence is quite an accomplishment, but I just go out there and play my game but when I get older it will be cool to look back and see my name in some places.”

Game Box Score

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