Nevada 21, Utah Tech 13
Monday, April 22, 2024
St. George, Utah - Bruce Hurst Field

WP: Kyle Becker (1-2)
LP: Matt Nelson (1-1)
SV: Dominic Desch (1)

ST. GEORGE, Utah - Taylor Holder posted the first three-home run game by a Nevada player in 11 years to highlight the Wolf Pack's wild 21-13 victory Monday at Utah Tech.

The last Wolf Pack player with three round-trippers in a contest was Austin Byler, against Holy Cross back on March 2, 2013. Holder's three homers put him at 13 for the season, tying for the Mountain West lead. He was 4-for-5 with three homers and four RBIs by the eighth inning, commanding enough respect from Utah Tech that he warranted an intentional walk with one on and two out. Michael Ball, the next batter, would make the Trailblazers pay dearly, smashing a three-run homer to left, capping Nevada's season-high run output.

The Wolf Pack (17-20) set additional season highs for home runs (six) and hits (21) in the contest. Ball's homer, Nevada's sixth, was just as critical as the first, coming in a six-run eighth after the Trailblazers (10-30) had scored nine times over the sixth and seventh innings to whittle what had been a 14-4 Nevada lead down to a two-run margin at 15-13.

Josh Catacutan's walk and Jackson Waller's single started off the eighth, and the pair was advanced on Jake Harvey's sacrifice bunt. After Jesse Pierce walked to load the bases, Nolan Wilson drove in two with a single to left, with Pierce coming around from first when left fielder Levi Randall misplayed it. That set up Holder's intentional walk two batters later, and Ball's homer.

Holder, Harvey, and JR Freethy each drove in four runs for the Pack, with Harvey and Freethy each hitting a two-run homer. Nolan Wilson joined Holder in the four-hit club, going 4-for-7 with a double and two RBIs. Jackson Waller, who went 3-for-5, scored three times, along with Holder, while Wilson came across four times.

Homers from Freethy and Holder highlighted Nevada's five-run top of the first, before Utah Tech answered with three runs in the bottom half, two coming on Chase Rodriguez's two-run shot.

Things seemed to have settled over the next three innings, the only additional run being Connor Tallakson's solo homer in the bottom of the fourth which brought the Trailblazers within one at 5-4.

But Nevada sprinted back way out in front with seven runs in the top of the fifth. For the second of what would be three times Monday, the Wolf Pack batted around, with a two-run single from Harvey, a two-run doubles from Freethy, and Holder's two-run homer doing much of the damage.

Harvey's two-run shot made it 14-4 in the top of the sixth before the Wolf Pack bullpen faltered. Ian Hughes started the bottom half, and issued four walks with two hits, Utah Tech scoring six times over his two-thirds of an inning. Garrett Cutting led the frame off with a homer, then, with two outs, four walks and a single led to two more runs, followed by Rodriguez's two-run double off of incoming reliever Kolby Kmetko.

Kmetko got the final out of the sixth, but ran into trouble in the seventh. Again, with two outs, Utah Tech used free passes to its advantage, drawing two walks and a hit batsmen from Kmetko, then two walks from reliever Dominic Desch, the second of which forced in a run to cut the Wolf Pack lead to two.

Desch, though, would get Cutting to pop out to shortstop to end the frame, and would go the rest of the way, retiring six of the final seven batters to pick up his first save.

Kyle Becker wrapped the final two outs of the fifth, striking out one, to pick up his first win of the season. For the Trailblazers, Matt Nelson lasted just the first third of the first inning, falling to 1-1 in a five-run outing.

Nevada heads back out on the road this weekend, traveling to the Academy where the Wolf Pack and Air Force will first resume March 30's suspended game before starting the scheduled three-game series. Friday's resumption will pick up with Nevada, which will play as the home team, leading, 5-2, with two away in the top of the sixth.