TULSA, Okla. – Only allowing three runs on the day, the Nevada baseball team (3-3) split its doubleheader with perennial NCAA Regional participant Oral Roberts (4-1) on Sunday afternoon. The Wolf Pack won the first game 3-0 behind senior Mark Nowaczewski's dominant complete-game shutout of the Golden Eagles.
After emerging victorious in the first contest, the Pack lost on a walk-off in the bottom of the ninth 3-2 in the second game of the afternoon.
Nowaczewski (1-1) pitched the fourth complete game and first shutout of his career. The senior only allowed four hits and one walk while recording five punch outs.
Five times in the first contest, the Pack put multiple runners on base but could not capitalize. This occurred early on, as two Nevada players were put on base in both the second and third inning, but were stranded each time. Nowaczewski only allowed one hit through the first three frames.
Nevada's offensive slump came to a halt in the seventh inning, when Jaylon McLaughlin and Conor Allard singled to get on base with nobody out. Daniel Perry bunted to move the runners over, and ended up reaching first safely to load the bases. Preseason All-MW selection Grant Fennell gave Nevada its first runs of the day by driving two home on a single to centerfield. Weston Hatten would come up next and hit a sacrifice fly to right field to give the Pack a 3-0 lead.
After walking the leadoff batter, Nowaczewski was perfect the rest of the seventh inning. He finished the frame with only 76 pitches thrown in the game.
Nevada had a chance in the ninth inning to give itself a little more insurance, with two runners in scoring position but left each of them on base. Nowaczewski forced the Golden Eagles into a double play, and then a fly out to right field to complete his shutout.
With the shutout in the first game, Nevada had gone 27 innings without allowing an earned run, not allowing an earned run to each of its last three opponents.
The second game of the day started shortly after, and Nevada stayed red hot from the first contest. Perry smacked the first homer of the season for the Pack to give them a 1-0 lead. Mike saw his first action of the day in the first inning of game two, and immediately hit a double for the Pack. Hatten drove the senior home to give Nevada its only two runs of the second contest.
Freshman Jake Jackson would make his second collegiate start of the season, and was even more impressive than his first. Jackson tossed five perfect innings, striking out 11 of the first 15 batters faced.
It was not until the sixth inning that Jackson would allow his first earned run in a Nevada uniform, after pitching 11 scoreless innings stemming from his victory at UC Irvine. A single to right field and an error by Zamora allowed two runners on base.
With one out, Nick Roark singled to right field. Scooping up the ball was Hatten, who threw a laser to Kaleb Foster behind the plate for what looked like the second out of the inning. After initially calling the runner out, the umpires overturned the call, citing that Foster impeded the base path and blocked the runner.
Jackson ended the wild sixth inning with a strikeout, and Nevada kept a slim 2-1 lead.
The freshman sensation finished his day after pitching another one, two three inning in the seventh and recording 13 strikeouts.
Ryan Anderson came in the eighth inning to close the game for the Wolf Pack, and recorded two strikeouts to send the contest to the ninth with the Pack leading 2-1. Nevada ended the game with 15 punch-outs total.
Two walks to members of the Pack in the ninth allowed them to put two runners on with only one out, but consecutive strike outs ended any scoring chance.
A walk and two singles by the Golden Eagles in the bottom of the ninth allowed them to tie the game at 2-2. With only one out and the bases loaded after a second walk, Hatten came on to pitch in place of Anderson. On just his third pitch, the junior allowed a walk-off hit to Riley Keizor to give ORU a 3-2 victory.
Nevada will play this Tuesday at Santa Clara at 6 p.m. PST. No audio will be available, but there will be live stats during the game.
NOTES:
Grant Fennell has extended his hitting streak to 11 straight games, stemming from 2017. Fennell also leads the team with seven hits this season.
The Wolf Pack went 32.1 innings without allowing a run, before ORU scored in the sixth inning.
Jaylon McLaughlin leads Nevada with a .385 batting average and .538 slugging percentage.
The Pack's record of 3-3 is tied for the best start for Nevada under head coach TJ Bruce. The 2016 team also started 3-3.
The Wolf Pack holds a team ERA of 1.93. Nowaczewski leads the team with 15 innings pitched and holds a 1.80 ERA. Jackson has recorded 18 strikeouts in 13 innings pitched with a 0.69 ERA.
