Nevada 5, San Francisco 3
Wednesday, March 22, 2023
San Francisco, Calif. - Benedetti Diamond

WP - Alejandro Murillo (1-0)
LP - Weston Lombard (0-2)
SV - Kolby Kmetko (5)

SAN FRANCISCO - Nevada picked up a midweek win for the third-straight week, and this time it was starter Alejandro Murillo who paced the effort in the 5-3 win at San Francisco.

Murillo allowed just one run on three hits and struck out five over 5.1 innings, exiting with the Pack ahead 5-0 in the sixth.

At the plate, Nevada (11-10) got four of its five runs via three homers, with JR Freethy and Matt Clayton hitting solo shots, and Jesse Pierce getting a two-run shot to cap the Pack scoring in the sixth.

Henry Strmecki's one-out single in the first plated Clayton with the game's opening run, and Freethy doubled the lead in the second with a solo shot to left.

Nevada's defense got Murillo out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the second to preserve the two-run lead. Mason Hirata knocked down a one-hop line drive at shortstop, flipped to second for the force out, then Freethy wheeled and fired home to Clayton, who made the tag on Christian Stapleton for the third out.

Clayton's fourth homer of the season, a solo shot to right-center, made it a 3-0 Pack lead in the fifth. In the sixth, Strmecki led off with a walk, and two batters later Pierce went deep to left to put Nevada up five.

San Francisco got on the board in the bottom half of the sixth. Murillo gave way to Clayton Ray with one out and one on in the frame, and Stapleton doubled to right before Michael Campagna's RBI single.

The Dons (9-8) made it interesting in the final two innings. In the eighth, the Dons loaded the bases with one out against Lucas Gather, but Dorsey Chatham came on and got a double-play ball out of Lane Oliphant to end the threat.

San Francisco again loaded the bases, this time with two away, in the ninth, and got runs when Pack closer Kolby Kmetko hit Stapleton then walked Campagna. But Kmetko buckled down and struck out Blake Pitts to close out the win and pick up his fifth save of the season.

Nevada returns to Reno to begin a seven-game homestand, beginning with a three-game Mountain West series against New Mexico. Friday's and Saturday's contests are set for 1 p.m., with Sunday's finale scheduled for an 11 a.m. first pitch.