RENO, Nev. – With a doubleheader sweep of San Jose State on Saturday, the Nevada baseball team increased its conference win streak to 14 games. The Wolf Pack took game one 7-2 in a scheduled seven innings, and came out on top 14-10 in game two.
The offense once again was electric, scoring 21 runs on 23 hits between the two games. That helps the Pack move to 24-18 overall and 21-9 in Mountain West play.
Dillan Shrum and
Matt Clayton nearly could not be stopped all day long as they combined for nine hits, four doubles, four home runs, nine RBI and 10 runs scored. For Clayton he was 5-for-6 on the day with three of those hits going for extra bases. Shrum blasted three home runs between the two games, totaled six RBI and scored six runs as well.
GAME 1
How It Happened
In a game that was scheduled for seven innings, the Spartans struck first but were held in check the rest of the contest. After SJSU went ahead 2-0 in the top of the first, the Wolf Pack answered with two runs of its own in the bottom half of the frame. After the first two batters reached for Nevada,
Dario Gomez drove both of them home with a two RBI double to tie things up. The rest of the game belonged to the Wolf Pack offense.
Nevada grabbed the lead for good in the very next inning as
Anthony Flores hit a no-doubter down the left field line to put the Pack ahead 3-2. Another solo shot in the third increased the Nevada lead as
Dillan Shrum connected on his first home run of the day. The Wolf Pack plated its final three runs in the fifth, getting two off of a double from
Jacob Stinson and an RBI single from Flores that put Nevada ahead 7-2.
Shane O'Malley earned his first win of the season after he started the game on the mound and tossed 5.0 innings of three-hit baseball. He was relieved by
Ben Purcell and
Kade Morris, who combined to allow zero hits the remaining two innings of the game.
GAME 2
How It Happened
Game two of the doubleheader was much more of a nail biter than game one. It was a low scoring affair until the fourth inning when the Wolf Pack broke the game open with a four-run frame. After homering to get the Pack on the board in the second, Shrum blasted his second long ball of the game, and third of the day, to left center which scored two of the four runs in the fourth inning. Following Shrum's long ball,
Matt Clayton stepped in and went back-to-back for Nevada with a solo shot to right field that put the Pack up 4-2. Nevada got its final run of the inning on a wild pitch that scored
Dawson Martin from third.
Nevada was cruising along having built up an 8-3 lead after the fifth inning, but the Pack ran into some trouble in the top of the sixth. The Spartans struck for five runs in the inning to quickly turn the affair into a brand new ball game, tying the contest at 8-8. The momentum didn't last long for SJSU though as the Wolf Pack put up a five spot of its own in the bottom half of the sixth. Shrum, Clayton and Martin combined for all five RBI in the inning to add to their totals for the day and put Nevada back on top, 13-8. Each team plated a couple more runs here and there, with the Pack scoring an insurance run in the eighth on an
Anthony Flores double to make it 14-9 Nevada.
Freshman
Kade Morris earned the win, his fourth of the season, after he threw one inning of relief work and got Nevada out of the jam in the sixth.
Peyton Stumbo made his second appearance of the season late in the game and tossed 2.2 innings of work with four strikeouts.
UP NEXT
Nevada will conclude the 2021 regular season as it closes out this four-game series against the Spartans tomorrow at 1 p.m. Senior Day festivities will be held before the game to honor the Pack's 11 seniors.
FOLLOW THE PACK
Stay up-to-date on all the happenings with the Nevada baseball program on social media via Twitter (@NevadaBaseball) and Instagram (@nevadawolfpackbaseball).
