Nevada 4, UNLV 2
Sunday, April 6, 2025
Las Vegas, Nev. - Earl E. Wilson Stadium

WP: Casey Burfield (2-1)
LP: Sam Simon (1-3)
SV: Ethan O'Neal (5)

LAS VEGAS - Sunday's finale between Nevada and UNLV was another low-scoring duel, and this time it went the way of the Wolf Pack, which salvaged a key win with a 4-2 decision at Earl E. Wilson Stadium.

This time it was Casey Burfield getting the better of Sam Simon in the duel between starters. Burfield improved to 2-1 as he held the Rebels to just one run on five hits and struck out five over 5.2 innings, and relievers Caedon Kottinger and Dominic Desch combined to keep UNLV off the board into the ninth. From there, they handed it off to Ethan O'Neal who, despite giving up a run in the final frame, nailed it shut for his fifth save of the season.

Junhyuk Kwon came through with the big at-bat Sunday, driving in two with a single up the middle off of Simon in the fifth to put Nevada in front, 2-1. Nevada (18-13, 7-5 MW) doubled its lead in the sixth, thanks to Sean Yamaguchi and Billy Ham opening with a single and double, respectively, to put two in scoring position. Yamaguchi came in from third on Taylor Holder's grounder to short, then Jacob Doyle plated Ham with a single to center to make it 4-1.

UNLV (16-15, 4-8 MW) nearly got back into it in the bottom half, loading the bases with two out against Burfield. Kottinger was called upon from the bullpen, and needed just two pitches to pop Dwight Allen II up to second to get the Pack out of the jam.

In the seventh, it was Desch's turn to leave UNLV hanging. Coming on for Kottinger with one out and runners at first and second, Desch got Cooper Sheff swinging on a full count, then, after loading the bases by hitting Dean Toigo, got a grounder to short from Cole Koniarsky for the third out.

The Rebels again put two on with one out in the ninth, getting a sacrifice fly from Toigo to plate JP Hefft to make it 4-2. But, two batters later, O'Neal closed up shop by getting Brendan O'Sullivan to fly out to center.

For the Wolf Pack, Ham bounced back well from an 0-for-4 Saturday to go 2-for-3 with two doubles Sunday, while Yamaguchi's double highlighted a 2-for-4 day.

The Wolf Pack begins a stretch of five in a row at home Tuesday night, hosting Simpson University at 6:05 p.m. Nevada returns to Mountain West play Friday night, hosting San José State for a weekend set before closing the home stand Monday afternoon against San Francisco.