LAS VEGAS - For the second-straight day, Nevada's offense exploded in the late innings, this time scoring 13 runs over the final four innings as the Pack clinched the series at UNLV with a 22-13 victory.
Dario Gomez became the first Pack player to hit for the cycle since Keaton Smith in 2019, finishing the day 4-for-7 with four runs driven in, and capping his cycle with a two-run, eighth-inning triple which extended the Nevada lead to 17-13.
Nevada (16-13, 9-4 MW) tacked on five more runs in the ninth, beginning with
Anthony Flores' one-out, RBI single that drove in
Tyler Bosetti. The Pack loaded the bases with two away, and put the exclamation point on the day with
Joshua Zamora's grand slam. For Zamora, the grand slam capped a 3-for-5, five-run, five-RBI day.
Kade Morris closed it up neatly, in the ninth, capping 3.1 innings of two-hit, one-run relief, striking out four and improving to 4-3. For UNLV, Josh Sharman took the loss in relief, giving up five runs (three earned) on six hits while being on the hill for the Pack's two-run seventh in which it took the lead for good.
The teams thrice exchanged the lead ahead of the Pack beginning its stretch run in the sixth. A Pack fielding error in the fourth led to three unearned UNLV runs, allowing the Rebels to take an 11-9 lead. An inning later, UNLV upped the lead to 12-9 on Rylan Charles' sacrifice fly.
But in the sixth, Nevada found its groove.
Jacob Stinson and Zamora led off with singles, then moved the third and second, respectively, on a wild pitch. Three batters later,
Matt Clayton delivered a clutch two-out, two-run single to close the gap to 12-11, followed two batters later by Flores' RBI single to plate Clayton with the tying run.
The next inning, it was the Pack's turn to capitalize on errors. Stinson, after being hit by a pitch, reached third on a failed pickoff by Sharman. After a Zamora walk, Gomez reached on a fielding error at third, as Stinson came across with the go-ahead run to make it 13-12. Clayton would come through again, two batters later, smacking an RBI single to right to plate Zamora. Clayton would finish the day 2-for-5 with four RBIs.
Pack starter
Cam Walty gave the Pack 5.2 innings, helping spare the bullpen despite the offensive fireworks. Nevada's two errors worked against Walty, who, despite giving up 12 runs, only had three charged as earned.
Nevada will go for the series sweep of UNLV (20-11, 11-3 MW) Sunday, with first pitch set for 12:05 p.m.