Nevada 7, Air Force 2
Sunday, April 27, 2025
USAFA, Colo. - Erdle Field

WP: Casey Burfield (3-2)
LP: Ethan Dillinger (0-1)
SV: Ethan O'Neal (7)

USAFA, Colo. - After a combined 52 runs between Nevada and Air Force over the first two games of the weekend series, pitchers wrested control back for Sunday's rubber game. Wolf Pack starter Casey Burfield was solid through six-plus and Junhyuk Kwon broke the stalemate with a two-run homer in the sixth as Nevada took a second-straight road Mountain West series with a 7-2 win over the Falcons.

Burfield quieted the Falcon bats for much of his outing, giving up just a solo home run to Luke Elmore to open the seventh inning before being lifted a batter later after issuing a walk. For the day, Burfield gave up just four hits and the one run while striking out two to get his third win.

The bullpen picked up right where he left off. Eric Valdez came on with the runner on in the seventh and Nevada up 6-1, and was immediately helped by a two-out sequence. Valdez got T.J. Oster swinging on a full count, and runner Alex Adams, who was off on the pitch, was called out due to Oster's interference with catcher Jake Harvey's throw to second. Despite the Falcons rallying to get runners on second and third with two away, Valdez buckled down and got Walker Zapp to fly out.

The Pack bullpen got out of another jam in the eighth, this time Ethan O'Neal with the clutch effort. A pair of two-out walks from Valdez loaded the bases, bringing on O'Neal, who got Oster looking with an off-speed 2-2 offering.

After a Jayce Dobie RBI double made it 7-1 Nevada in the ninth, O'Neal closed it out despite allowing a run, picking up his seventh save of the season.

Kwon drove in four of the Wolf Pack runs in the contest, going 2-for-4 with the homer and also scoring three times. Along with opening the scoring in the top of the sixth, Kwon gave Nevada (25-18, 12-9 MW) key insurance an inning later, driving in two more with a one-out single to left to make it 5-0.

Dobie, for his part, added a solo homer after Kwon's two-run shot in the sixth, and went 3-for-5 with two RBIs on the day. Michael Ball, Billy Ham, and Taylor Holder each had two hits, with Ham adding an RBI.

Ethan Dillinger matched zeroes with Burfield for five innings, until running into trouble with Kwon's homer in the sixth. Dillinger took his first loss of the campaign, giving up two runs on five hits for the Falcons (17-27, 9-12 MW).

Nevada returns to Reno to begin a stretch of seven home games over its next eight, beginning with Tuesday's 3:05 p.m. matchup with Saint Mary's. Three games back of Fresno State in the Mountain West race, the Wolf Pack hosts the Bulldogs this weekend, beginning Friday at 6:05 p.m.