SAN DIEGO, Calif. – After a split doubleheader against San Diego State yesterday, the Nevada baseball team took the series with a 5-3 victory in the series finale on Sunday afternoon.
The win solidified the Wolf Pack's first Mountain West series victory on the road this season, and also handed the Aztecs their first conference series loss of the season. Nevada improved to 10-13 overall with the win and is now 7-8 in league play. For San Diego State, which entered the series with the conference's best record and the national lead in team batting average, fell to 17-8 overall and 12-6 in MW action.
The Wolf Pack struck first in the game, plating two of its five runs in the top of the first inning. After
Joshua Zamora hit a one-out double to the right center field gap,
Dario Gomez brought him home to score on an RBI single the next at-bat. Gomez put himself into scoring position on a wild pitch, which paid off as
Matt Clayton singled to left field allowing Gomez to score from second to give Nevada an early 2-0 advantage.
The Aztecs evened the score in their half of the fourth putting two runners in scoring position with no outs to start the frame. A single and then eventual groundout with less than two outs plated both of those runs to tie the game at 2-2. The contest did not remain tied for very long as a Zamora single in the fifth scored
Jacob Stinson to put Nevada back on top, 3-2. The Wolf Pack notched its final two runs of the ball game, and what would be the game-winning run, in the top of the sixth. A sacrifice fly by
Wyatt Tilley scored Clayton from third, and later in the inning with the bases loaded a fielder's choice by
Tyler Bosetti allowed
Landon Wallace to score the Pack's final run of the ball game. San Diego State got a run back in the bottom portion of the sixth, but the Nevada pitching staff surrendered just two hits and the Pack defense turned two double plays in the final two innings to secure the 5-3 victory.
True freshman
Cam Walty earned the first win of his career after tossing 5.1 innings allowing just one earned run on six hits while striking out five. Out of the bullpen,
Shane Gustafson,
Tanner Cunha,
Kade Morris and
Tyler Cochran all combined to give up just three hits and no runs in the final 3.2 innings against one of the best offenses in the country. Cochran pitched the ninth inning to earn his third save of the season. At the plate Zamora, Gomez, Wallace and Stinson all produced multi-hit games, led by three hits from Gomez.
Nevada will be back in action for a pair of non-conference games as it plays at No. 4 Texas Tuesday and Wednesday this week.
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