RENO, Nev. – Recording a season-high 17 hits, Nevada (21-18, 10-11 MW) blasted its way to a 16-5 victory over rival UNLV (23-18, 10-11 MW) to take the series from the Rebels. Freshman
Matt Clayton knocked two solo shots and
Weston Hatten led Nevada with four hits to give Nevada its third 16-run performance of the year and second of the series.
Jake Jackson and
Grant Ford combined for nine innings and struck out the Rebels eight times. Ford (2-1) earned the win after only allowing four hits and one earned run.
Clayton opened up the scoring in the second when he smacked his first homer of the day, and continued his big day in the fourth when he hit his second bomb to give the Wolf Pack a 2-0 lead.
Nick Seamons increased that lead to four with a two-RBI single that scored
Jaylon McLaughlin and
Tyler Bosetti to give Nevada a 4-0 advantage after four innings.
The Rebels responded in the fifth, as they plated four of their five runs that inning thanks to a couple extra-base knocks to tie the game at four. The Pack put together a much-needed response in the home half, scoring five runs with four different players recording at least one RBI.
Nevada kept its hot streak going, as it finished out the game scoring at least one run in the final five frames it hit in, four of those putting up a crooked number.
Conor Allard recorded an RBI-single in the sixth to make it 10-4 Nevada, and an RBI by Zamora and Hatten in the seven increased the lead to 12-4.
A Bryson Stott RBI-double in the eighth plated UNLV's final run of the game, but the Pack added four more runs in the eighth to tie its season-high at 16 runs. The frame was capped off with a two-run shot to left field as Hatten hit his seventh homer of the season.
With today's series victory, Nevada ends the regular season with a 3-3 record against the Rival rebels.
The Pack will play a two-game midweek series on Monday and Tuesday against defending national champion No. 2 Oregon State. Monday's contest will be broadcast on Stadium and the Mountain West Network, with first pitch slated for 6:05 p.m.
