Nevada opened the home portion of the 2017 season by dropping three of four games to Virginia Tech at Peccole Park over the weekend.
The Wolf Pack now sits at 2-6 on the season heading into the first weekend of conference play. The Hokies, the first Atlantic Coast Conference team to play at Peccole, improved to 7-1.
Nevada starts Mountain West play on Friday at Fresno State in the first of three games against the Bulldogs.
Fresno (3-4) split four games against Oregon and just lost two of three to UC Riverside over the weekend.
Virginia Tech 24, Nevada 10
Football scores are rarely desired on the diamond.
That was especially true for Nevada in Sunday’s series finale.
Virginia Tech outhit Nevada, 20-10, and scored at least four runs in four-straight at bats from the second to fifth inning – ending with a seven-run frame.
The game lasted almost 3.5 hours, featured six pitching changes, 18 walks/hit by pitches and 374 total pitches – 214 from the Nevada staff.
Virginia Tech 8, Nevada 5
Keaton Smith’s one-out RBI double in the bottom of the eighth in Saturday’s lone contest pulled Nevada even with Virginia Tech. Momentum quickly changed dugouts.
A double play two batters later sent the Hokies to the dish, where they scored three times and went on to win 8-5.
Reed alum Mark Nowaczewski, a redshirt junior, got the start on the bump and allowed five runs (all earned) on nine hits over six innings. He struck out six and walked just one.
Nevada scored twice in the first and second innings to take a 4-0 to the fourth when Virginia Tech scored twice, twice more in the fifth and took a 5-4 lead in the sixth on a two-out RBI single off Nowaczewski.
Junior outfielder Chase Grant went 3-for-3 in the loss as Nevada was outhit, 15-9.
Nevada 7, Virginia Tech 4
The Wolf Pack picked up its lone win of the weekend in the nightcap of Friday’s doubleheader. The doubleheader was originally scheduled for Saturday, but was bumped up a day due to forecasted snow.
Freshman Grant Ford allowed three runs on five hits over five innings to pick up his first collegiate victory. He did not walk a batter and struck out five.
Freshman Riley Ohl (two shutout innings), senior Ty Pennington (one inning, two hits, one run) and senior Evan McMahon (two strikeouts in scoreless ninth) held the Hokies off the rest of the way.
Junior outfielder Mike Echavia went 4-for-5 with a double, a triple, two RBIs and a run scored in the win.
He ripped an RBI triple in Nevada’s three-run second inning and had an RBI single in the two-run third that spotted the home team a 5-2 lead.
Virginia Tech 8, Nevada 7
Nevada rallied for four runs in the bottom of the ninth in Friday’s series opener, but it wasn’t enough.
With runners on second and third, two outs, and a full count, senior shortstop Justin Bridgeman chased an off-speed pitch in the turf to end the threat and the game.
Keaton Smith (3-for-4, two RBIs) blasted a solo home run in the bottom of the eight to get the home team within 8-3 before the eventful final frame.
The game was tied 2-2 going to the fifth when Virginia Tech broke it open with four runs on four hits.
Ace Trevor Charpie fell to 0-2 on the season, allowing six runs (five earned) on 10 hits over six innings.
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