RENO, Nev. - After nearly a week and a half away from competition, the Nevada baseball team returns to the field for a three-game set at Pac-12 member USC this weekend.

The Wolf Pack last played on Tuesday, March 2 with a single game at Arizona State, after opening Mountain West play the previous weekend with three games at UNLV. Nevada was scheduled to continue Mountain West play this past weekend at San Jose State, but with the Spartans pausing the start of their baseball season, those games were postponed.
In the Wolf Pack's last set of games the team went 1-3, going 1-2 to open conference play at UNLV and losing 13-4 in the single game at Arizona State. In game one at UNLV the Pack nearly pulled off a ninth inning comback, scoring two runs in the top of the ninth to tie the ballgame. The Rebels though were able to plate the winning run in the bottom half of that inning to take game one. Nevada fell, 8-3, in game two but rebounded thanks to a masterful pitching performance from Owen Sharts and Shane Gustafson in the Sunday finale to take that one, 6-1. In that finale at UNLV, Sharts and Gustafson combined to throw a one-run, three-hit gem with 12 strikeouts between the two of them. In the Pack's single game at Arizona State, which was picked to finish third in the Pac-12, a couple of big innings for the Sun Devils propelled them to a 13-4 victory at home.

Nevada now looks ahead to a three-game non-conference series at another Pac-12 foe, USC. The Trojans are 3-6 on the year and have yet to play a conference game. They were scheduled to play a single game against Pepperdine on Tuesday, but due to COVID-19 concerns within the Pepperdine program the game was canceled. 

Nevada and USC will play three games with one on Friday, one on Saturday and the finale on Sunday. The Wolf Pack will throw RHP Jake Jackson in the opening game of the series on Friday, with the rest of the rotation still to be determined. In two starts this season, Jackson is 0-1 on the year with a 3.09 ERA and seven strikeouts. His best start so far this season was his second outing in game one at UNLV where he tossed 7.0 innings and gave up just two earned runs on eight hits while striking out three.

USC will go with a rotation of LHP Isaac Esqueda, RHP Chandler Champlain and LHP Alex Cornwell. Through eight games this season Nevada is 3-1 against left handed starters, and is 1-3 against right handed starters.

ON THE AIR
Josh Suchon will have the call in Northern Nevada on CBS Sports Radio 94.1 FM and 1450 AM with a 20 minute pregame show prior to first pitch for all three games. Fans can also tune in to listen to Suchon's broadcast online at TuneIn.com or via the TuneIn app.
 
Additionally, all three games will be live streamed on Pac-12.com/live/USC.

POP-FLYS
-Nevada will play its first 11 games of the season on the road
-Joshua Zamora was named the 22nd best third baseman in college baseball by D1Baseball
-USC is the second Pac-12 opponent Nevada has faced this season (Arizona State the other)
-Owen Sharts was named the MW Pitcher of the Week last week
-Tyler Bosetti currently has a seven-game hitting streak
-Nevada ranks second in the MW with a team ERA of 4.48

SHARTS NAMED MW PITCHER OF THE WEEK
For the week of March 1, and after a solid outing in the series finale win over UNLV, redshirt sophomore Owen Sharts was named the Mountain West Pitcher of the Week. This was the first weekly conference honor for the right hander in his career.
 
In his second start of the young season on Sunday Sharts was masterful on the mound, earning the win for the Wolf Pack. The Simi Valley, Calif. native tossed 6.0 innings of work and held the Rebels to just one run on two hits, both singles. Sharts did not allow a hit until the fifth inning and struck out seven batters. His seven strikeouts tied his season-high from his first start of the season at Cal Poly, and are tied for second-most among Mountain West pitchers this season.
 
Sharts combined with redshirt senior reliever Shane Gustafson to throw a 1-run, 3-hit gem with 12 strikeouts in a 6-1 win at UNLV, helping the Wolf Pack avoid the sweep to the Rebels. So far through two starts in 2021 Sharts is 1-0 with a team-best ERA of 0.90 among Nevada starters and has 14 strikeouts in 10.0 innings.

T-BO TIME
Redshirt junior Tyler Bosetti has been one of the more consistent hitters for the Wolf Pack over the last couple of weeks. After going 0-for-3 in his season debut against Cal Poly in the season opener, Bosetti has hit safely in every other game this season, giving him a seven-game hit streak. During his seven-game hit streak he has two multi-hit games and recorded a season-high three hits during the win at UNLV where he went 3-for-4 at the plate with two runs scored and an RBI. Bosetti is batting .303 through eight games this season and ranks tied for third on the team with 10 hits.

NEWCOMERS SHINING EARLY ON
A pair of newcomers, redshirt sophomore Dario Gomez and true freshman Jacob Stinson, have made immediate impacts for the Wolf Pack in 2021. Both Gomez and Stinson have started in all eight games, Gomez in center field and Stinson in left, and have been offensive threats every time they step to the plate.

Stinson has been one of, if not the most, consistent hitters for Nevada through eight games. He leads the team batting .423, which is the third-best batting average among Mountain West hitters. In 26 plate appearances he has 11 hits, second-best on the team, with two doubles, four RBI and five runs scored. He currently has a three-game hit streak going and is tied for the team lead with four multi-hit games. Additionally he is one of three Wolf Pack players to have reached base safely in all eight games so far this season. 

Gomez also has been producing at a high rate as he is batting .406, fifth-best in the conference. He has collected a team-high 13 hits in his 32 at-bats with four doubles, a triple, a homerun, five RBI and six runs scored. He's been highly effective on the base paths as well with four stolen bases in four chances. His fielding has been perfect through eight games with 24 putouts and zero errors. Gomez's four doubles are tied for the conference lead, and his four multi-hit games are tied for the team lead with Stinson. Of his four multi-hit games, all four of them have been three-hit performances.
    
WE WANT ZAMORA THAT
Redshirt junior Joshua Zamora was honored by D1 Baseball earlier this offseason, being ranked as the 22nd-best third baseman in college baseball. His pedigree speaks for itself, as Zamora has boasted a career-batting average of .318 with 29 doubles, 17 homers, 73 RBI and a .489 slugging percentage. 

In his first season, he was awarded the second Mountain West Freshman of the Year honor in Wolf Pack baseball history as well as Freshman All-American honors. In 2019, he was named second-team All-MW as well as being selected to the All-MW Tournament team.

HIGH NON-CONFERENCE STANDARDS
The Nevada baseball team could very well boast one of the best non-conference schedules among Mountain West teams in 2021, and perhaps one of the best in the nation. The Wolf Pack began its season on the road at Cal Poly, which earned wins over No. 1 Vanderbilt and No. 5 Michigan last season, and will also square up against Pac-12 schools such as USC on the road and a home-and-home series with Arizona State. Perhaps the two headline grabbing opponents on this year's non-conference schedule are a single game at No. 2 UCLA on May 18, and a two-game set on the road at No. 9 Texas, slated for mid-May.

The last time the Wolf Pack faced a top 25 opponent was in April of 2019 when Nevada swept a two-game series against then No. 2 Oregon State, the 2018 NCAA National Champions. Both games were set for dramatics as the Pack walked-off for both wins in extra innings, including a walk-off home run in game two.

When the Pack faces No. 2 UCLA on May 18 it will be a homecoming of sorts for head coach T.J. Bruce, who served as an assistant coach on the Bruins coaching staff under current UCLA head coach John Savage from 2011-15.

NEWBIES
With the unlimited roster size that is permissable this season, the Wolf Pack boasts a large number of returners, but also a large number of newcomers. Nevada will have 22 newcomers on its roster in 2021, including 17 freshmen and five junior college transfers. Of those 22 newcomers eight are either starting or relief pitchers, six are infielders, five play outfield, two are catchers and there is one utility player.

SCOUTING THE TROJANS
The 2021 USC Trojans returned 27 lettermen from last year, have three players coming off of redshirt seasons and have added 15 newcomers to the roster.
 
On the position player side, the most notable returning veterans are INF/OF Jamal O'Guinn (.378/.500/.564), 1B/DH Clay Owens (.346/.400/.577) and Ben Ramirez (.310/.375/.552). Another pair of underclassmen returners who impressed during the 15-game 2020 season are Rhylan Thomas (.356/.412/.422) and Tyresse Turner (.257/.372/.371, 6-6 SB).
 
On the pitching side, starters LHP Isaac Esqueda (0-1, 1.20 ERA) and LHP Alex Cornwell (2-1, 3.66 ERA) lead the charge, while RHP Chandler Champlain (1.23 ERA) looks to lock down a starting role as well. The Trojans had five relievers post sub-2.00 ERA's last year, losing just RHP/DH Ben Wanger of the group.

UP NEXT
Nevada will finally get its first action at home next weekend as the Wolf Pack will host Fresno State for a three-game Mountain West series at Don Weir Field at Peccole Park.