Saint Mary's 13, Nevada 8
Tuesday, April 29, 2025
Reno, Nev. - Don Weir Field at Peccole Park

WP: Jaden McNeely (1-0)
LP: Daniel Tovar (0-1)

RENO, Nev. - An eighth-inning pinch-hit double broke an 8-8 tie and Saint Mary's went on to a 13-8 victory over Nevada Tuesday at Don Weir Field at Peccole Park.

The Gaels added four runs in the ninth, with a three-run homer by Diego Castellanos putting the game away. Reliever Jaden McNeely got his first win with a scoreless seventh inning before the Gaels took the lead for good.

Nevada (25-19) twice came back from three-run deficits—first scoring four times in the fifth to take a 5-4 lead, then plating three more runners in the sixth to answer a big Saint Mary's inning and tie it up at 8-8.

But there was no answer for Micah Nicholson's pinch-hit double in the eighth. The Gaels (23-20) got the leadoff run aboard in Diego Castellanos' walk off of Daniel Tovar, then he was bunted over the second by Jared Mettam. Nicholson, pinch-hitting, took a strike from Wolf Pack reliever Eddie Tierney before slicing a ground ball just inside the line at third, the double scoring Castellanos with the go-ahead run.

Tovar fell to 0-1 with the loss, responsible for Castellanos as the go-ahead run.

Back-to-back homers in the third helped Saint Mary's up its early lead to 4-0 before the Wolf Pack bats got to work. Jacob Doyle started the rally with a solo shot in the third. In the fifth, Michael Ball drove in a run with a single, then Taylor Holder lined a single to right, plating Junhyuk Kwon and Ball to tie it up. A few batters later, with the bases loaded, Sean Yamaguchi came across on a double-play ball to make it 5-4.

Saint Mary's jumped back ahead with four runs in the sixth, behind Eddie Madrigal's three-run homer. But Nevada responded—Ball hit a two-run homer to left to make it a one-run game at 8-7, then, with two on, Billy Ham tied it up with an RBI single.

Ball led the Wolf Pack, going 2-for-4 with the homer and three RBIs. Yamaguchi and Donovan Ratfield each had two hits, while Holder drove in a pair of runs.

Madrigal drove in four runs to lead the Gaels, Castellanos had three RBIs, while Aiden Taurek and Ryan Pierce each had three hits.

Nevada begins a three-game Mountain West home series against conference-leading Fresno State this Friday at 6:05 p.m.