At the 36th annual Bobby Dolan Baseball Dinner, Nevada baseball will celebrate the 20-year anniversary of the 2000 team, the last to reach a regional for the program. The Wolf Pack squad from 20 years ago, coached by Nevada legend Gary Powers, finished with a 38-19 record including 21-9 in the Big West.
That team was led by multiple future big-leaguers, helping the Pack reach its fourth regionals appearance. Offensively, Joe Inglett led the charge boasting a ridiculous .435 batting average with 103 hits, 15 doubles, five triples and 10 homers. He also drove in 48 runs, scored 85 and was walked 45 times. He was named an All-American by Baseball Weekly, Baseball America and ABCA/Rawlings following one of the greatest single offensive seasons in Nevada history. His efforts also earned him Big West MVP honors. Inglett's .435 batting average is a single-season program record as well as his 103 hits. Inglett's .384 career batting average is the best in Wolf Pack history as well.
Nevada was led on the mound by a two-headed monster in Darrell Rasner and Chad Qualls, both boasting double-digit victories on the season and sub-four ERAs. Rasner finished with a 3.52 ERA and a team-best 14-2 record, with his 14 wins still standing as the most in a single season in program history. He tossed 122.2 innings including three complete games and two shutouts. He earned the victory over Fresno State for Nevada's last postseason victory to date, tossing 5.2 innings with three strikeouts and only two earned runs. He was named an All-American by Collegiate Baseball following the season as well as First-Team All-Big West.
Qualls was as equally dominant as a starter that season, posting a 3.88 ERA with an 11-4 record in 18 starts. Serving as an iron man on the bump for the Pack, he pitched seven complete games on the year with a program single-season record 132.1 innings pitched. He also set the Nevada single-season record by striking out 113 batters while only walking 36, earning First-Team All-Big West honors.
Inglett was drafted in the eighth round of the 2000 MLB Draft by the Cleveland Indians, while Qualls was selected that same year but in the second round by the Houston Astros. Rasner was selected in the second round, 46th overall by the Montreal Expos in the 2002 MLB Draft. All three made it to the big leagues in their careers, as Inglett made his debut with the Cleveland Indians on June 21, 2006. Qualls made it to the show with the Astros on July 22, 2004 and Rasner made it the following year with the Expos on Sept. 6, 2005.
The Pack had a plethora of players earn all-conference honors for their efforts that season, as catcher Matt Ortiz, first-baseman Don Price and outfielder Ryan Church were named First-Team All-Big West. Third-baseman Alex Rangel was named to the second team.
Nevada caught fire at the right time during its 2000 campaign, winning its last seven games including sweeps against Long Beach State and Pacific to reach its fourth-ever regional. The Pack earned its bid to the Stanford Regional where it had to face Alabama to kickoff the postseason. After falling to the Crimson Tide 8-2, it kept its season alive with a dominating 13-5 drubbing of Fresno State. In a contest that took just under three hours to complete, Ortiz led the way going 4-for-5 at the plate with two RBI and two runs scored. Inglett tallied two hits as well, including a two-run bomb in the seventh frame. After Rasner earned his program-record 14th victory of the season, going 5.2 innings while only allowing six hits, George Moran and Jay Kenny tossed the final 3.1 frames only allowing a combined three hits.
Following its win over the Bulldogs, the Pack lost a heartbreaker to Alabama to end its season. Nevada jumped out to a 5-0 lead after three innings, thanks to two RBI and three hits from Inglett. Alabama scored four runs in the sixth inning, and while narrowly hanging to a 5-4 lead in the eighth, a two-run bomb sealed Nevada's fate in the eighth inning.
Aside from it being the fourth and most recent Nevada baseball team to make a regional, the 2000 squad is celebrated as one of the best in school history. The program saw some of the best individual and team efforts that year, and its accomplishments has been etched into the team record book for years to come.
