Abilene Christian 5, Nevada 3
Friday, Feb. 17, 2023
Abilene, Texas - Crutcher Scott Field

WP - Blake Anderson (1-0)
LP - Morgan White (0-1)
SV - None

ABILENE, Texas - Nevada Baseball dropped its 2023 opener Friday afternoon, 5-3 at Abilene Christian.

The teams return to action Saturday for the second game of the scheduled four-game series, with first pitch set for 12:05 p.m. PT.

Friday, Nevada (0-1) led 3-1 after four innings, before Abilene Christian (1-0) tied things up with two runs in the fifth, then added two more in the eighth off of Wolf Pack reliever Morgan White.

In the fifth, the Wildcats capitalized on an error by Jackson Waller at shortstop, turning it into two unearned runs to tie it up.

The Wolf Pack had its best chance to break the tie in the seventh, loading the bases with just one away. Nolan Wilson, who went 2-for-4 with a solo homer on the day, led off the frame with a double, and walks from Jeff Bauser and pinch-hitter JR Freethy sandwiched a fielder's choice from Michael Ball.

But Wildcat reliever Adam Byrd left the trio stranded, striking out Henry Strmecki then getting Derek Tenney to fly out to left.

That would end up the only one of the final five frames in which the Pack put a runner on base. The Pack went down in order in each of the fifth, sixth, eighth, and ninth innings, as Abilene Christian's Blake Anderson retired all six batters he faced to pick up the win in relief.

Nevada starter Kade Morris took a no-decision, going six innings and striking out eight while allowing three runs (one earned) on four hits. His counterpart, Tyler Morgan, also left without a decision after a six-inning outing in which he gave up three runs on four hits.

Morris, White and Dillon Holliday combined to strike out 11 Abilene Christian batters on the day.

White came on in relief to start the seventh, rolling through his first inning of work before Miller Ladusau golfed a two-out double down the right-field line, scoring Logan Britt with the go-ahead run. Tanner Tweedt added an insurance run with an RBI single off of Holliday, plating pinch-runner Holden Rook.

Wilson's solo shot in the top of the second evened the contest after Abilene Christian took an early 1-0 lead. The Pack took a 2-1 lead as Bauser was hit by a pitch and worked his way to third on a stolen base and advancing on a groundout before coming in on Waller's RBI single. Nevada upped the lead to 3-1 in the fourth as Ball drove in Tyson Heinz.