San José State 13, Nevada 12
Sunday, April 2, 2023
Reno, Nev. - Don Weir Field at Peccole Park

WP - Jesse Gutierrez (1-2)
LP - Casey Burfield (2-2)
SV - Darren Jansen (3)

RENO, Nev. - For the second day in a row, Nevada had the winning run aboard in the bottom of the ninth, and came up a run shy. Sunday, the Pack fought back to within a run after trailing by as many as six, but fell, 13-12, in the rubber game to San José State.

Behind 13-11 in the bottom of the ninth, the Pack got one-out walks from Jaxon Woodhouse and Nolan Wilson to set the table. JR Freethy drove Woodhouse in with a single, making it a one-run game and putting the tying run at second.

But for the second-straight day, San José State closer Darren Jansen was able to escape a late jam for the save. Jansen struck out Taylor Holder then got Jeff Bauser to ground out, denying the Pack a comeback win.

Nevada (12-15, 3-8 MW) trailed 13-6 heading into the bottom of the eighth inning, and started its rally with five runs in the frame. Woodhouse started it with an RBI double, and Freethy drove in two runs with a single to left.

Three batters later, with runners at the corners and two out, pinch-hitter Dawson Martin drove in Freethy with a line drive to left-center, then Matt Clayton doubled down the line in left to make it a two-run game.

Woodhouse was one of two Wolf Pack batters with four hits on the day, going 4-for-5 with two doubles and three RBIs. Jesse Pierce hit a solo homer to highlight his own 4-for-5 day at the plate.

But it was San José State's (13-10, 6-3 MW) early outburst which gave the Spartans just enough room to hold off Nevada. The Spartans scored twice in each of the first three innings, then put up four in the fourth to go up 10-4.

Clayton and Woodhouse had RBI singles in the bottom of the second to pull Nevada even at 4-4 with a three-run frame. But the Spartans broke the tie their next time up, as Hunter Durraugh hit an RBI, then ended up scoring on a wild pitch to make it 6-4.

In the fourth, Charles McAdoo, who led San José State with three hits and four RBIs Sunday, got a two-out, two-run double that upped the Spartans' lead to 9-4, then came around on Dalton Bowling's single to center.

Neither starter made it past the third inning in the contest. For Nevada, Casey Burfield came out with two away in the third, charged with six runs (five earned) on five hits, while Aaron Eden came out after two innings, giving up four runs on six hits. For Burfield, he took his second loss of the season as his record went to 2-2.

Spartan reliever Jesse Gutierrez earned his first win of the season, as he went three innings of one-run relief.

Nevada, its seven-game home stand through, travels to Las Vegas for a three-game series at UNLV beginning Thursday at 6:05 p.m.