Studying in the summer used to be punishment for the kids with short attention spans and poor grades.  Now, it’s my “reward” as the adult with the short attention span and a self-destructive work ethic.

Alas, this edition of Cannon Fodder will be my temporary curtain call until mid-August, after I’ve slain this beast and (hopefully) put myself on track to be a duly licensed member of the State Bar of Nevada.  As I won’t have much in the way of human contact over the next month, I’ve decided to once again revisit my imaginary mailbag and revisit any lingering topics from the 2010-11 year in Fodder.

Wait…so, you’re just gonna take a month off from your writing duties?  You know what that makes you?

-       Incensed in Incline

French.

This year may be the Pack’s swan song in the WAC but, honestly, without BYU, Utah, or TCU, isn’t the Mountain West just going to be WAC 2.0?

-       Equivocating in Elko

Well, if you’re counting and I buy what you’re saying, it’d technically be WAC 4.0, as there was the original WAC, the bloated 16-team Super WAC, the original 8-team Mountain West comprised of the heart of the original WAC, and then this version.  Which, I might add, is a superior option to either (A) the middling WAC we’re leaving or (B) the decrepit WAC we’re leaving behind.

Certainly, there are some bottom-feeders in MWC football on par with Utah State and New Mexico State, particularly UNLV and New Mexico.  Once-proud Wyoming and Colorado State are certainly in the throes of their own equivalents of our Tisdel/Tormey era.  But beyond the “Core Four” who are moving to the Mountain (Nevada, Boise State, Fresno State, and Hawaii), the WAC doesn’t offer the caliber of program you’ll find at Air Force or San Diego State.

Further, the Mountain West’s attendance, facilities, and tradition constitute significant upgrades over the WAC.  In 2009, the most recent year for which I could find attendance figures, here were the average attendance figures for the 5 WAC schools we’re leaving behind and the 6 MWC schools we’re joining:

WAC Mountain West

Idaho               12,546                                     Air Force         35,656

La. Tech          20,000                                     Colorado St.    23,643

NMSU              16,511                                     New Mexico   26,944

San Jose St.     15,344                                     San Diego St.   24,464

Uah St.            15,971                                     UNLV             22,775

Wyoming        19,494

Average           16,074 Average           25,496

In short, our new Mountain West brethren averaged more than 9,000 more fans than our WAC compatriots.  That’s an easy six-figure increase in per game intake of gate receipts, concessions and souvenirs.  Larger fan bases attract better talent, both for our conference foes and for us (playing in front of 35,000 in Colorado Springs is more appealing than playing in front of 12,000 in Moscow).  The Mountain West also has better bowl tie-ins (Las Vegas, Poinsettia, and Independence spring to mind) with larger pay-outs, and, for the first time ever, we will be in the same conference simultaneously with our two most hated rivals.  If we’re Texas, then Boise State is our Oklahoma and UNLV is our Texas A&M (okay, they’re our Baylor).

That’s just on the football field.  We’ll be joining a loaded basketball conference featuring San Diego State, New Mexico, and UNLV, in addition to traditional hoops rivals Fresno State and Hawaii.  And if any program took a step back by moving from the Big West to the WAC, it was Wolf Pack baseball.  Losing the fertile Southern California recruiting grounds afforded by playing (and beating) Cal State-Fullerton and Long Beach State drained the talent pool.  Hopefully, our presence in the CIF San Diego Section will offset that long-term loss, and we can get back to our unprecedented #6 national ranking in 1994.

How much does losing Brandon Wimberly hurt our receiving corps, really?

-       Diagramming Routes in Douglas

It hurts.  First, we have to wish Brandon a speedy recovery.  Regardless of the situation that lead to his shooting last month, the act of his assailant was one of extreme cowardice, and neither Brandon nor the people of Reno deserved this (not to mention the pall it cast over the Freight House District, the hottest new summer spot in Northern Nevada).

Of course, real life spills over onto the football field, and one crime scene means erasing and replacing some X’s and O’s on Coach Ault’s chalkboard.  The speedy Wimberly was slotted as the #2 guy behind Rishard Mathews, giving Tyler Lantrip another option in the increasingly likely event that #15 faces double coverage.  Wimberly’s injury bumps all other receivers up one spot on the depth chart.

Senior Long Beach Poly alum Tray Session will likely see many of the balls that would have been meant for Wimberly.  Also look for sophomore L.J. Washington to pick up the slack, and watch out for senior Utah transfer Corbin Louks and, my dark horse breakout candidate at wide-out, senior Shane Anderson.

God, I totally agree with you about having the Reno Aces in town.  It’s so nice to finally have good professional baseball in town.  There’s never been anything like it!

-       Young & Enthusiastic on Yori Avenue

I agree with your agreeing with my earlier sentiments, with whom many readers agree.  But, even at 29, I feel obligated to be the “old guy” who puts your Reno sports fandom into greater historical context.

When you say there’s never been anything like it, I assume that you mean that we’ve never had the nicest new minor league venue west of the Rockies, in a beautiful setting, watching former and soon-to-be major leaguers on the precipice of glory.  That is true.  But it doesn’t mean Reno doesn’t have a rich minor league history…or that we’ve never had a team called the “Aces.”  The original Reno Aces were a minor league hockey team, much as the original Colorado Rockies are now known as the New Jersey Devils.

I love the Aces, and I wouldn’t trade Aces Ballpark for a thousand Moana Stadiums, or the Freight House District for a thousand Ballpark Markets.  But, much as many local Giants fans still have a tiny soft spot for Candlestick Park, I’ve got a soft spot for watching the original Reno Silver Sox battling Cal League foes in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.

Much of this has to do with an obscure right-hander named Mike Warren.  In 1987, when I was only five and hadn’t yet made a highlight reel play at first base for the Sparks Yankees, my dad met Mike on a family cruise to Mexico.  Mike pitched briefly for the Oakland A’s and Kansas City Royals in the early to mid-80s.  ESPN.com lists him as the worst Major League pitcher to ever throw a no-hitter, as a rookie in 1983 against the AL West-champion White Sox.  The Daniels of Sparks and the Warrens of Garden Grove fast became friends.  Warren, who had significant elbow problems, later signed with the independent Silver Sox and pitched for two seasons in Reno, in 1988 and 1989.  We served as his host family.

Seeing as I was six and seven years old during those seasons, baseball crawled underneath my skin and merged with my DNA.

We got into every game for free, and watched as Mike served in the bullpen with future Phillies and Mariners reliever Bob Ayrault.  It was one thing to go to the games and watch Mike and the Silver Sox take on the San Jose Giants, Modesto A’s, Palm Springs Angels, the Stockton Ports and the Bakersfield Dodgers.  It was another to have the entire pitching staff in my living room, playing Blades of Steel and RBI Baseball on my Nintendo.  It was during one of those late-night pizza-and-video game festivals that I showed Ayrault a 1988 Topps card of an Astros flamethrower and told him, “You look a lot like Mike Scott.”

I think he appreciated that.

That’s my Reno baseball legacy.  I’m sure there are still host families around town who opened their doors to Roberto Alomar or Dennis Eckersley when they played for the Reno Padres.  The experience was enough to sew 108 red stitches into my brain for life.

Love me some Aces, but they’ll never match that.

What can we expect from Cannon Fodder in August?

-       Panicky on Prater Way

Better than I’ve given you the last few weeks.  In all seriousness, this will be the first season of Wolf Pack football with Cannon Fodder, and I’m looking forward to the challenge to provide you all with “infotaining” content between Saturdays.  I’ll also tip my hand on one thing: this season will mark the 20^th anniversary of Nevada’s original Dream Team, the 1991 Wolf Pack squad that spent virtually every week ranked #1 in the nation in legacy Division I-AA.  Look for a special tribute column to Chris Vargas and Company, as well as weekly updates on how the ’91 team is “doing” as the Indian summer turns to what passes in Reno as “autumn.”

I’ll see you on the other side of the poodle skirts, sock hops, and classic car collectors from Modesto.

Survival is the key word for the Pack right now.  They lost the opener 5-4 to San Jose State, forcing them into the elimination bracket.  That means Nevada must win out in order to keep their season going.

They did that by blasting the Aggies, winning 15-4 and putting up the most runs they have all season long.  On top of their 6-run first, they added a run in the 5th and 8 more runs in the 6th to 10-run (mercy) rule New Mexico State. Overall, Nevada walked an impressive 13 times.

Nevada starter Tom Jameson continued his strong late season run. The sophomore threw the entire 7-innings, giving up just two earned runs while striking out 5 batters to move his record to 6-6 on the season. Jameson has now allowed just 4 earned runs in his past 21 innings.

The Pack will play another game tomorrow at 11:00 A.M. (PT), with the opponent yet to be determined.

No matter what the sport is, whenever you enter a postseason tournament you want some momentum.  Nevada, who walked into Sunday’s finale in a three-way tie with San Jose State and Louisiana Tech for 3rd place in the WAC standings, gained that momentum by winning the final two games and three of four overall to win the series over the Spartans.  The Pack have won six of their last 8 games.

Much of the credit for those half-dozen wins comes down to pitching. Suarez is just the latest Pack arm to come up big.  In yesterday’s doubleheader finale, which Nevada won 7-6, it was senior Mark Joukoff. The Walnut Creek (Calif.) native tossed 3 scoreless innings that allowed Nevada to not only comeback, but eventually win.  Sophomore starter Tom Jameson has won twice during the closing stretch, giving up just two runs over 14 terrific innings.

In today’s win, Shipley, a freshman who typically plays shortstop, got off to a shaky start on the hill. He pitched around a bases loaded situation in the first, but couldn’t do the same in the second when the Spartans got a clutch two-out, two-RBI base hit from Tyler Christian prior to a wild pitch.  In the third it was more trouble for Shipley. After getting the first two outs, things unravelled for the freshman.  He gave up a base hit, double, hit a batter and a walk before calling it an afternoon.  Suarez came in and despite a bases loaded walk to the first batter, limited the damage to just two more Spartan runs.

Photo by Mark Rauh of SilverandBlueSports.com

Nevada, which had scored three times themselves in the first three innings, tied the game 4-4 in the 5th inning when senior outfielder Waylen Sing-Chow singled to plate junior DH Hugo Hernandez.

With Suarez putting up zeros in the bottom half, Nevada took the lead for good in the 6th inning. Junior catcher Michael Turay hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score junior Nick Melino for the first run.  One batter later, Hernandez drove senior Brian Barnett home with a two-out base knock to give Nevada the 6-4 lead.

Nevada and SJSU traded 8th inning runs, but senior Tyler Rogstad got the job done in the 9th to complete the 8-5 victory.

With the win, Nevada ended up .500 in WAC play at 12-12.  They tied with Louisiana Tech, and since the Bulldogs took the season series 3-1, Nevada will be the No. 4 seed when the WAC Tournament gets underway on Wednesday.  The Pack will take on San Jose State, the No. 5 seed, once again in the first round.

Turay’s squeeze play brought home two runners thanks to a throwing error by Spartan pitcher John Austin, who missed his catcher on the play at the plate and allowed Wolf Pack senior slugger Brian Barnett to score all the way from second base to give Nevada a 7-5 lead.

The insurance run would become very important in the bottom half of the 9th, as Nevada closer Matt Gardner needed it.  San Jose State, aiming for the Saturday sweep and a chance to lock up the No. 3 overall seed in the upcoming WAC Tournament, Gardner gave up a two-out RBI single to Kerry Jenkins which closed the score to 7-6.  It was only the third earned run the Reno native had coughed up all season long.  Two pitchers later though, Gardner retired Spartan third baseman Tyler Christian on a fly ball to right field to close the door on his 6th save of the season.

Senior Mark Joukoff, who attended high school just north of San Jose in nearby Walnut Creek, had one of his best performances of the season.  Joukoff, who began the 6th inning in relief of starter Jeremy Cole, who allowed 11 base runners and 5 runs in 5 innings without striking out a batter, threw three scoreless innings out of the pen for the win.

Photo by Mark Rauh of SilverandBlueSports.com

In the first game of the day, Nevada also stormed back from 5 runs down to make it a narrow game.  With the first game of a doubleheader always scheduled for a short 7 innings, Nevada’s 5-run explosion in the top 6th rallied the team from a 10-5 deficit.  Nevada, as they’ve done a few times now in their past several games, have strung together some big innings without the benefit of many hits.  In fact, they got just two hits during their 5-run 6th, but thanks to a pair of hit batters and two walks, plus a timely SJSU error Nevada completed the stirring comeback.

Unfortunately for Nevada, the momentum got away from them just as they were surging.  With two on and two out in that same 6th, they couldn’t get the hit that would put them on top as junior Garret Yrigoyen flied out to left center to end the inning.  In the top of the 7th, Nevada got a two out walk from freshman shortstop Braden Shipley but couldn’t advance him either.

That set the stage for the Spartans in the bottom half of the 7th inning, as they got their leadoff hitter, the speedy Andrew Rodriguez, to third with just one out.  Junior Tim Culligan got one of the biggest outs in his Nevada career moments later though as he struck out San Jose State pinch hitter Zack Jones with the go-ahead run just 90-feet away.

However, Culligan uncorked the dreaded wild-pitch to the next batter that scored Rodriguez and won the game for the Spartans.

Both SJSU and Nevada now own identical conference records and are tied for third place in the WAC standings, therefore tomorrow’s game will decide who will earn the third seed.

With Jameson pitching a gem, giving up just an unearned run in the first inning, the Wolf Pack offense took control of the game with a 5-run third inning.  The floodgates opened after a one-out error that put runners on first and second as the Pack took full advantage of the miscue.  They strung together four straight base hits, including senior Brock Stassi’s single that plated two runs to make it a 3-1 Nevada lead.

Moments later juniors’ Nick Melino and Garrett Yrigoyen added RBI singles to complete the 5-run barrage.

Jameson kept the Spartan bats relatively cold through 5 innings. However, they almost got to him in the 6th.  After a leadoff single and a force out the Pack defense had an error of their own to give the SJSU offense a ray of hope. After another single, the bases were loaded with just one out.

But Jameson came up with his biggest pitches of the game against the next two batters, striking out catcher Anthony Bona, who had two hits in the game, for the second out.  With the bases still juiced, Jameson whiffed pinch-hitter Tim Quiery looking on a 3-2 pitch.

The game did get a bit closer in the 7th as the Spartans got to the Pack pen.  Junior pitcher Timothy Culligan allowed hits to three of the first four batters he faced and also threw a wild pitch to put the lead in jeopardy. The Spartans scored twice to cut the lead to 5-3. Senior Mat Keplinger, a former star at Lincoln high school in Stockton (Calif.), put the fire out though by retiring the next two batters.

Photo by Mark Rauh of SilverandBlueSports.com

Junior Joe Kohan got one of those runs back in the top of the 8th with a two-out double that scored Jamison Rowe, who doubled right before Kohan stepped to the plate.

Keplinger ran into a jam himself in the bottom half of the 8th. After he struck out Spartan shortstop Nick Borg looking on a nasty 0-2 pitch, SJSU saw their next two batters reach on a single and walk.  Junior Matt Gardner, the Pack closer who returned to Reno after a solid career at College of Southern Nevada, limited the damage to just one run by retiring two of the next three Spartan batters.

With the score 6-4 entering the top of the 9th, Nevada was looking for some insurance runs.  They got that and a lot more when they exploded for 5 more runs on just two hits.  The Pack watched their first two batters get hit, a single and two walks before Kohan came up with his second double of the game scored two more runs.  Kohan’s big night included three hits and four RBI’s to raise his average to .304 on the season.

Gardner closed the door on the Spartans with a fairly routine 9th inning, lowering his ERA in the process to 0.87 on the season.

Nevada will play SJSU three more times in the next two days for the chance to earn the number three overall seed in the upcoming WAC Tournament.

Silver and Blue Sports photographer Mark Rauh caught Nevada’s last home game of the season this past Sunday. The Pack won the game over Sacramento State in one of their best home performances of the season, 10-0, with numerous players contributing in the shortened, 8-Inning game.

Check out more of the sights and scenes from Senior Day in the gallery below;

Along with Cole, Nevada celebrated the careers of seven senior players. Tyler Rogstad, Mark Joukoff, Brock Stassi, Brian Barnett, Waylen Sing Chow and Mat Keplinger were the others, with the four latter players all keying Sunday’s victory which gave the Wolf Pack the weekend series, 3 games to 1.

Sing Chow, Stassi and Barnett combined to go 7-for-12 in their final game in front of the Nevada home fans, driving home 5 runs and drawing three walks to help Nevada pound out a season-high 16 hits.  Stassi, who went 4-for-5 with 4 RBI’s out of the two-hole, actually posted hits in his first four at bats.

The Wolf Pack will travel south to Fresno to take on the Bulldogs this Thursday.

Photo by Mark Rauh of SilverandBlueSports.com

Photo by Mark Rauh of SilverandBlueSports.com

Photo by Mark Rauh of SilverandBlueSports.com

Photo by Mark Rauh of SilverandBlueSports.com

Photo by Mark Rauh of SilverandBlueSports.com

Photo by Mark Rauh of SilverandBlueSports.com

Photo by Mark Rauh of SilverandBlueSports.com

Photo by Mark Rauh of SilverandBlueSports.com

Photo by Mark Rauh of SilverandBlueSports.com

Photo by Mark Rauh of SilverandBlueSports.com

Photo by Mark Rauh of SilverandBlueSports.com

Photo by Mark Rauh of SilverandBlueSports.com

Photo by Mark Rauh of SilverandBlueSports.com

Senior first baseman/pitcher Brock Stassi got the Wolf Pack going in the first game, pitching six innings (out of a possible 7 innings since it was the early game of the doubleheader) to earn his second win of the year.

Stassi got plenty of support from his teammates, with 8 big runs in the first three innings.  It was a total team effort, with Nevada scoring 3 times in the second inning as they rapped five straight base hits off Hornet starter Brandon Sandoval. One inning later, Nevada watched 5 more batters reach in 6 at bats in what turned out to be Sandoval’s last inning of work.  Senior outfielder Waylen Sing Chow had the big hit in the third, as he plated two runs with a single.

Although he allowed 5 runs himself in the first three innings, Stassi pitched fantastic in the middle frames.  He sat 9 of the next 10 batters down to take control of the contest. He notched his only two strikeouts of the game during that timeframe too.

Senior Mat Keplinger pitched a scoreless 7th inning to earn his first save of the season.

Photo by Mark Rauh of SilverandBlueSports.com

In the second game, sophomore Tom Jameson took over where Stassi left off.  He hurled 8 terrific innings, giving up just 3 runs (2 earned) and striking out 2 batters to earn his 4th win of the season.  Jameson got an impressive 17 outs on the ground.

Just like in the first game, it was Nevada’s bats that picked up their starting pitcher.  Jameson found himself down 3-0 after his first three innings, and the Pack were still trailing 3-1 after 6 innings.  But Jameson pitched another scoreless 7th to give his team another opportunity, and after sophomore catcher Carlos Escobar Jr. plated Nick Melino on a base hit with two outs, Kohan put the Pack on his shoulders by driving a shot over the left field wall to give Nevada a 4-3 lead.

Jameson threw another scoreless frame in the 8th, and after the Pack scored 4 more times in the bottom of the 8th, two Nevada relievers closed the door on the sweep.

Check out the Pack go for the series victory tomorrow at Peccole Park, with the fourth and final game of the series starting at 1PM.

“We didn’t pitch. It’s really discouraging and really disappointing. It’s about focus and concentration and in this game and in this park you need to keep the ball down and the guys that had success this weekend kept the ball down and it hasn’t been a consistent thing all year long,” Coach Powers said following the second loss on Saturday.

Despite getting a great start from Brock Stassi, Game 4 was all Hawaii.

It was the Rainbows who jumped out to the early lead as they got three hits off Stassi in the first inning to string together a run for a 1-0 lead.  Things would slow down after the first inning run for the Rainbows as the finale turned into a pitching duel.

Both teams played excellent defense despite the windy conditions as both starting pitchers were able to keep the ball down in the zone.  Through five innings each team had only four hits with the Rainbows maintaining a 1-0 lead.

“It felt good, feels like my shoulder is getting back to where it’s been in the past,” Stassi said of his arm after throwing 115 pitches in the loss.

The two way standout was clearly frustrated with the way the weekend finished.

“We could have easily won all four games this weekend but we kept shooting ourselves in the foot. It’s a frustrating game and that’s what this game is all about,” Stassi added.

Stassi finished the game giving up four earned runs on ten hits while striking out six in 7 2/3 innings. He also raised his batting average to .373 after going 3-for-4 on the day.

Hawaii ended the scoring drought when Zach Swasey hit a solo home run that got a little help from the wind as it carried over the left field fence to put the Rainbows up 2-0 in the sixth but Nevada would threaten in the bottom half of the inning.

The Pack got another hit from Stassi who doubled to the opposite field to start the inning and following an infield single by Nick Melino Nevada loaded the bases with one out following a Hugo Hernandez walk.  Garrett Yrigoyen was called out on strikes on an inside curveball and Hawaii got out of the jam when Carlos Escobar flied out to centerfield to end the inning.

Nevada had another opportunity to plate a run but a rally was cut short when Bradey Shipley was thrown out at home plate by centerfielder Breland Almadova on short flare up the middle.  Shipley waited to tag up but when the fly ball dropped in he took off for home and was tagged out at the plate.

“He did a nice job today but unfortunately we couldn’t swing the bats when we needed to. We had two or three opportunities to score some runs to get back in the game and you have to rise to the occasion and we just couldn’t find a way to do it, this has been a hard deal and we just can’t get out of our own way and it’s really frustrating,” Powers said of his teams’ effort.

That was the last threat Nevada could generate despite getting nine hits on the day as the Rainbows would hold on for the 4-0 victory after they sent out closer Lenny Linske to seal the deal.

Photo by Mark Rauh of SilverandBlueSports.com

In the first game of the doubleheader, which was Game 3 of the series, the Wolf Pack simply let one slip away.  After jumping out to a 6-0 lead, Powers’ pitching staff gave it all back and eventually fell 8-7 in seven innings.

The six-spot, which came in the first inning off Rainbow starter Zach Gallagher, who entered the game with a 4-2 record to go with a 2.38 ERA, good for 3^rd in the Western Athletic Conference, was started by Waylen Sing Chow, who got things rolling with a single.  Stassi plated him when Hawaii centerfielder Breland Almadova got crossed up on a deep drive up the middle.

Stassi has been swinging a hot stick since the start of WAC play as the first baseman/pitcher has helped his team recover from an 0-9 start. Stassi was hitting .462 (24-for-52) since the opening of the WAC schedule against Fresno State which is best in the WAC since conference play began. Stassi would finish the opening game going 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored as the bats were hot to start the day.

The big hit came from the aforementioned Yrigoyen as the third baseman hit a three-run home run that carried over the left field fence with a little help from a strong breeze.  The blast by Yrigoyen put Nevada up 5-0 as the Pack teed off on Gallagher early on.

Tommy Niebergall followed the home run with a triple to the right field corner and he would come across the plate when Shipley grounded out to first to put the Pack up 6-0 after one inning.  Gallagher was tagged for six runs on six hits in a rough first inning.

However, that inning turned out to be the highlight of the afternoon. The Rainbows would strike right back as they tagged Jeremy Cole for three runs on four hits in the second inning.  Hawaii used a two run home run from A.J. Bayus to chop the lead in half.

The Pack would extend their lead in the bottom of the third when the wind stepped in and caused a Carlos Escobar blooper to drift into centerfield as the shortstop and centerfielder failed to communicate and the ball dropped in right between the two players allowing Nick Melino, who singled to right field, to come across the plate putting the Pack up 7-3 after three.

Hawaii chased Cole from the game in the fourth inning after scoring a run to make it 7-4. Mark Joukoff came on in relief but he did not fare much better.  Joukoff would pitch only an inning while surrendering the tying runs, which were unearned after an error at shortstop by Shipley loaded the bases with two outs.  Kolten Wong drove in two runs with a single up the middle after the error and Joukoff was pulled after allowing a single to Zack Swasey.

Coming in to relieve Joukoff was Tyler Rogstad and Hawaii would plate the go-ahead run on a chopper that was just over the head of Rogstad and a charging Shipley could not make the play.  The Rainbows took an 8-7 lead after a four run fifth inning.

Nevada threatened in the bottom of the sixth as Jamison Rowe singled with one out and stole second but Joe Kohan and Stassi could not get the run across as the Pack entered the final frame trailing by one but could not get the job done.

Linske, the Hawaii closer who was clocked at 95 mph on the radar gun, struck out two of the final three batters he faced as Nevada dropped the game.

With the losses Nevada fell to 17-26 overall and 6-9 in conference play.

Up next for Nevada is a home series against Sacramento State next weekend at Peccole Park.  The first game is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday night followed by a doubleheader on Saturday and will wrap up on Sunday at 1 p.m.

“We needed to save our bullpen tonight and last night we didn’t do our job,” Powers said following the win. “We’re getting better and that’s good to see,” the 29-year veteran concluded.

Nevada got a great outing from Troy Marks (2-3, 4.11), who held the Rainbows hitless through 3 2/3 innings of well pitched baseball.  Marks finished the game giving up just three hits while striking out four in seven innings of work while lowering his ERA to 4.11 on the year.  Marks was in control from the get-go and that allowed the Pack to get a jump on Hawaii in the second game of the series.

“We used our whole bullpen and I knew I had to go deep in the game and that was the goal for me and luckily I got it done,” Marks said following his second victory of the season.

The Pack again took an early lead in this one after things got off to a slow start on a beautiful night in Reno.  It was freshman shortstop Braden Shipley who continued to swing a hot stick for Nevada as his double to the gap in right field brought in the first run of the night to put the Pack up 1-0 in the third inning.  Following a catcher’s interference call the bases were loaded with nobody out and the Pack looked poised to tack on a few more with the top of the lineup coming around.  After a strikeout by Joe Kohan it was Nevada’s leading hitter, Brock Stassi, who delivered a clutch bases loaded single to plate two more runs as the Pack extended their lead to 3-0 in the third.

With the hit Stassi raised his average to a .355 on the season after getting off to a slow start.

“I think at the beginning of the year I was trying to do too much but I’m just trying to have productive at bats, trying to stay level headed and not get too high or too low,” Stassi said of his recent hot hitting ways.

Photo by Mark Rauh of SilverandBlueSports.com

Meanwhile Marks was cruising right along until the fourth inning when he finally he surrendered a hit to the powerful Rainbows.  Following a two-out walk Marks was finally tagged by Collin Bennett who singled past a diving Garrett Yrigoyen at third base.  Marks got out of the jam on a fine defensive play by Shipley as the young shortstop had to put some zip on the throw to first to end the Hawaii threat.

The Pack picked Marks up again in the fourth as they had runners on second and third with one out as Shipley came to bat.  After falling into an 0-2 count the freshman came up clutch again as he singled up the middle on a pitcher’s count that produced two more runs for Nevada to make it 5-0 in the fourth.

“I made a few adjustments in my swings and things are dropping for me. I’m just trying to produce for my team and I’ve been fortunate to have guys on base and it’s good to have things falling for me,” Shipley said after his 7-RBI start to the weekend.

The Pack offense continued to give Marks more run support as they added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth.  Following a double by Reno product Brian Barnett, Hugo Hernandez came up with a single to centerfield that scored Barnett and the throw home allowed Hernandez to advance to second.  The heads up baserunning proved to be key as Hernandez came around to score when Yrigoyen singled to left field putting Nevada up 7-0 after five innings.

The Silver and Blue tacked on more runs in the sixth when Kohan doubled to the gap in right-center field as Jamison Rowe, who walked to start the inning, was moving on a 3-2 pitch and came around to score easily.  Stassi followed that up with a laser to the gap in right-center that brought Kohan around to extend the Nevada lead against the first place Rainbows.

Brian Barnett roped a single past the third base bag that scored Stassi but Barnett was out at second as he tried to stretch the single but it was good enough to put Hawaii in a double digit hole as they trailed 10-0 after six innings.

Marks continued to spin a gem as he surrendered his second hit of the night in the top of the seventh as Hawaii pinch hitter Michael Blake looped one over Shipley’s head at shortstop as the blooper gave the Rainbows some much needed momentum if they wanted to keep the game alive.

The Rainbows loaded the bases on a bloop single to center field as Marks faced his first jam of the night, forcing Coach Powers out of the dugout to settle the junior from Fresno.  “He told me to stop messing around and get these guys out and finish the job off,” Marks said.

And finish the job off he did.  Marks rebounded to strike out the next batter and got Breland Almadova to fly out to center field to end the game.

With the win Nevada improved to 17-24 on the year while still having shot a series win over the front running Rainbows.  The series will wrap up following tomorrow’s double header at Peccole Park as Stassi and Jeremy Cole will head to the hill as the Pack hope to continue to climb the rankings in the WAC.  First pitch of game one is slated for 1 p.m. and is scheduled for only 7 innings and the second game will start shortly after.