SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – A late-inning comeback bid by Cal Poly was not enough as the Nevada baseball team scored three runs in the top of the 10
th to earn an 11-8 extra innings win on Sunday.
It was a busy day for the Wolf Pack (2-1) pitching staff, which used 11 arms in the game. Freshman
Cam Walty earned his first collegiate start earlier this afternoon and threw 4.0 innings giving up just one earned run and striking out five. From there 10 relievers came out of the bullpen over the course of the remaining six innings.
Clayton Westrope was today's winning pitcher after getting the final out of the ninth to send the game into extra innings.
Tyler Cochran earned his second save in a row after he managed to get the final three outs in the 10
th.
Nevada was cruising along in the game and poised for an easy win after building up a 7-0 lead after 4.5 innings of play. The Wolf Pack struck for one run in the top of the first and got two more in the fifth and the eighth, but the big inning on offense came in the fourth where the Pack plated five runs. A leadoff single in that inning by
Wyatt Tilley, followed by a walk drawn by
Landon Wallace, put two runners on for the Pack with no outs.
Jacob Stinson then recorded a bunt single down the third base line, which allowed Tilley to score the first run of the inning after a throwing error by Cal Poly's pitcher.
Joshua Zamora was hit by the pitch in the Pack's next at-bat, loading the bases for
Tyler Bosetti still with no outs. Bosetti lined a double to center field scoring two runs and putting two runners in scoring position. Nevada got its fourth run of the frame with its next batter as
Dillan Shrum scored Zamora from third on a sacrifice fly to left. The Pack's fifth and final run of the fourth inning came off the bat of
Dario Gomez, a single to right field that plated Bosetti.
The Mustangs (1-2) began to close the gap in the bottom of the seventh when they scored three runs to make it a 7-4 game. Nevada got a needed insurance run in the top of the eighth, but Cal Poly answered with a run of its own in the bottom half of the inning to keep it a three-run contest heading into the ninth. After a scoreless top of the ninth for Nevada, the Mustangs comeback bid began in their portion of the inning. Cal Poly was able to plate three runs to tie the game at 8-8 on just one hit, using two walks, two hit by pitch and a wild pitch to score the game-tying run with two outs, sending the game to extra innings.
In a similar fashion for the Wolf Pack in the 10
th inning, it used just one hit to score three runs to take an 11-8 lead, all with two outs. The hit came from Gomez, a single to the shortstop that allowed Zamora to score an unearned run. Nevada got its other two runs in the inning on a fielding error and a walk. Cal Poly did not go quietly in the bottom of the 10
th, bringing the game-tying run to the plate with no outs. Cochran entered the game though and got two quick outs, walked a batter to load the bases, but then got the final batter to line out to left to end the game.
Nevada totaled its 11 runs on 13 hits, which has been the most for the Pack in its three games so far. Gomez led the team with three hits, going 3-for-5 with a double and two RBI. Zamora, Tilley and Stinson also produced multi-hit games with each recording two hits. Bosetti led the Pack with three RBI.
Nevada will go for the series win tomorrow in the four-game finale with first pitch slated for 3 p.m. at Baggett Stadium.