IRVINE, Calif. – In his first collegiate start, freshman Jake Jackson dominated on the mound to help lead Nevada (1-2) to an 8-1 victory over UC Irvine (2-1) on Sunday afternoon. The Wolf Pack recorded eleven hits on the day.
Jackson (1-0) earned the win in his first career college start, finishing with only three hits allowed and five strikeouts through six shutout innings. Dueling with him was freshman Trenton Denholm (0-1) who was chased after pitching four innings, allowing five runs on six hits. Ryan Anderson earned his first-career save after three strong frames to close the game.
Both pitchers came out firing to start the game, each holding onto a no-hitter through the first two frames. Jackson struck out two of the first six batters faced.
Nevada's offense came alive in the fourth inning, as Mike Echavia doubled to center field on the first pitch to kick-start the Pack. After Kaleb Foster was pegged and Cole Krzmarzick singled to right field, the Pack found themselves covering all three bases with only one out. Junior Weston Hatten picked a great time to record his first hit in a Wolf Pack uniform, driving in two runs with a single into left field. Krzmarzick would be caught stealing third, but Daniel Perry's single to center field would score Hatten from second before the inning ended.
The bats stayed alive for Nevada in the fifth inning, as Marco Valenzuela's leadoff triple allowed Echavia to drive him home with a single to right field. Dillan Shrum's sacrifice fly to left field scored Zamora from third, and the Pack accumulated a comfortable 5-0 lead through five frames.
Jackson dominated all the way through the sixth, where he ended his day with a one, two, three inning. The freshman threw 95 pitches and recorded more strikeouts than hits allowed. Valenzuela would add to his big day with an RBI single in the sixth as well to increase Nevada's lead to 6-0.
UCI's only run of the day was scored in the eighth inning that resulted from an error by freshman Tyler Bosetti and a sacrifice fly by Nick Anderson.
Echavia finished his day going three for five at the plate after starting the ninth inning with a single. After walking Shrum, Grant Fennell would hit his second double of the day and score Echavia to increase the lead to 7-1. A ground out to the shortstop by Krzmarzick allowed Shrum to score on a fielder's choice and finalize the Pack's 8-1 victory.
Anderson's first-career save resulted from his three inning, 45 pitch performance that included only three hits.
Hatten topped the Pack with two RBI on the day, along with Echavia who recorded three hits. Fennell leads Nevada through three games with a .400 batting average and a .600 slugging percentage.
Nevada will be back in action this Tuesday when it takes on Cal State Fullerton on the road. The Titans have dropped three straight at Stanford to start the season after advancing to the College World Series in 2017. CS Fullerton was ranked No. 17 by the NCAA entering the 2018 season.
John Ramey, the voice of the Nevada Wolf Pack will make his Nevada baseball broadcasting debut on Tuesday. He can be heard on the radio on NBC Sports Radio 94.1 FM and the game will be livestreamed.
