Nevada opened Mountain West play over the weekend by dropping two of three games at reigning regular-season champ, Fresno State.
The Wolf Pack (3-8, 1-2) missed the opportunity to win consecutive games for the first time of the season, falling 9-5
in the series finale on Sunday evening. The Bulldogs improved to 6-5, 2-1.
Fresno scored five times in the bottom of the fourth on three singles and a triple to break open a 2-2 ballgame. The inning was the last for Nevada starting pitcher Grant Ford.
Ford gave up seven runs (all earned) on six hits in the four innings of work.
Keaton Smith went 3-for-4 with a home run, a triple, two RBIs and two runs scored in the loss. His two-run shot in the top of the sixth pulled the Pack within 7-4.
Nevada plays a non-conference game at St. Mary’s (7-3) on Tuesday before returning to MW play Friday at Peccole Park for the first of three games against San Diego State (8-4, 0-0).
Nevada 10, Fresno State 8
Nevada won for just the second time in eight tries on Saturday night at Fresno.
The 10-8 win was the Pack’s first conference win of the season and snapped a three-game skid.
With an 8-7 lead going to the eighth inning, Nevada added a pair of insurance runs on a Jordan Pearce two-out, two-run bases-loaded single. It was his only hit of the game.
Evan McMahon allowed one run on two hits over the final two innings to pick up the save.
Nevada was outhit 12-9 in the win. Shortstop Justin Bridgeman went 3-for-6 (all singles) with a pair of runs scored.
Reed alum Mark Nowaczewski picked up his first win of the season despite battling control issues. Nowaczewski was charged with six runs (four earned) over 5.2 innings. He overcame seven walks compared with three strikeouts.
Nevada scored five runs in the top of the fifth to transform a 3-2 deficit into a 7-3 advantage. The guests led the rest of the way. No. 9 hitter Jaylon McLaughlin highlighted the inning with a three-run blast on a 1-2 offering.
Fresno State 3, Nevada 2
The bullpen was unable to preserve a slim lead in the final innings of Friday’s Mountain West conference opener at Fresno.
Last year’s regular-season conference champ scored the tying run in the seventh and scratched across the winner in the eighth, handing Nevada a 3-2 loss.
The defeat squandered a brilliant effort from ace Trevor Charpie, who was charged with two runs on five hits over 6.2 innings. He struck out nine and walked just one.
Charpie left with a 2-1 lead, a runner on second, and two outs in the bottom of the seventh.
Freshman Riley Ohl came on and gave up a game-tying RBI single before escaping the frame. Ohl was unable to get out of the eighth, ultimately getting charged with the game-deciding run.
A balk and a Chase Grant RBI single gave Nevada a 2-0 lead in the second.
The lead was trimmed to 2-1 in the fourth before the Bulldogs won the game late.
Fresno starter Ricky Tyler Thomas was dominant. He nearly went the distance, allowing two runs on five hits in 8.1 innings of work.
Nevada was outhit 8-5 and did not have a single player with more than one hit.
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