Nevada 16, San Diego State 9 (8)
Saturday, May 18, 2024
Reno, Nev. - Don Weir Field at Peccole Park

WP: Ethan O'Neal (3-2)
LP: Xavier Cardenas III (2-6)

RENO, Nev. - Nevada's 2024 campaign came to a bittersweet end Saturday. The Wolf Pack climbed out of an early six-run hole to claim a 16-9 victory over San Diego State in eight innings, but came up on the short-end of a three-way tiebreaker for the final two spots in next week's Mountain West Championship.

Nevada (25-26 overall, 16-14 MW) finished in a three-way tie for third place with Fresno State and San José State in the conference standings, but, with a combined 2-4 record against the Bulldogs and Spartans, was left on the outside looking in.

Saturday's contest with the Aztecs was called with one out and a runner on base in the bottom of the eighth due to the game's length hitting the agreed-upon drop-dead time to allow San Diego State time to make its flight home.

The game's start looked familiar to Friday's, as San Diego State quickly jumped ahead with three runs in the first, and went up 6-0 by the end of the top of the third behind Cade Martinez's three-run homer.

Wolf Pack starter Peyton Fosher's day ended with two out in the third, as he gave way to Ethan O'Neal, who closed the frame.

O'Neal would go the final 5.1 innings, giving up just three runs while picking up his third win of the season.

The comeback which led to that win began with a four-run Wolf Pack frame in the bottom of the third. Jake Harvey and JR Freethy opened it up with back-to-back doubles to get the Pack on the board. Freethy would come in on a fielding error in left field on Michael Ball's single, then Taylor Holder would hit a two-run shot to right-center to cut the deficit to two at 6-4.

Nevada took the lead for good with five in the fourth. Derek Tenney reaching on an error and Justin Acal's base hit led to a one-out RBI double from Freethy, who doubled thrice and drove in four runs on the day.

An intentional pass to Ball led to Jesse Pierce drawing a bases-loaded walk to tie it at 6-6, then Nolan Wilson drove in two with a single to left, helping chase San Diego State starter Xavier Cardenas III who fell to 2-6, giving up nine runs (eight earned) on eight hits over 3.1 innings.

Wilson added a two-run double in the Pack's three-run fifth, highlighting a six-RBI day in which he went 4-for-6 while coming up just a homer shy of the cycle. The three-run fifth gave the Pack a 12-7 lead.

The Aztecs scored twice in the sixth on Zane Kelly's two-run homer, cutting the Nevada lead to 12-9. In the bottom of the eighth, Freethy hit his third double of the day, this one driving in two, and, following Wilson's two-run triple off the wall in left-center, the umpires called the contest.