After sweeping the Cougs earlier in the season, the Wolf Pack showed no mercy in their first game on the Palouse. Nevada’s 17 hits, three doubles, one triple and two homeruns made up the explosion of run production that propelled the Wolf Pack to the conference win.
Redshirt senior Taylor Holder got the ball rolling by singling in the third inning to drive in the first run of the ballgame. The game quieted down for much of the matchup, with lefthanded pitcher and redshirt freshman Nick Lewis going 6 1/3 innings while giving up one walk and eight hits.
It was not until the seventh inning that Lewis started to show some cracks after giving up back-to-back hits and was relieved by sophomore Trevor Stowe. Stowe did not last long as he walked two straight batters and was quickly replaced by redshirt sophomore Rylan Haider.
The Wolf Pack smelled blood in the water and wasted no time hitting off Haider, driving in four more runs making it 6-0. Finally, the Cougs brought in junior Bryce Chambers to slow the bleeding. Chambers escaped the seventh only giving up one run, bringing Nevada’s lead to 7-0.
The second burst of run production for the Wolf Pack came in the top of the ninth where they tallied 11 runs off of eight hits. Two of the hits included a three-run home run off the bat of Holder and a grand slam by redshirt junior Billy Ham.
Staring down the barrel of a 19-0 Nevada lead and only three outs left to claw back, the Cougs had their work cut out for them. The pinch-hitting junior Jonah Shull picked up a one-out single but found himself stranded on first base as junior Noah Thein flew out and redshirt junior Luke Thiele struck out looking to end the ballgame.
Five errors, only six hits and seven runners left on base killed much of the Cougars’ momentum throughout the game. As a team that sits at second place in the MWC for batting average, the bats were uncharacteristically quiet through all nine innings.
The matchup also saw true freshman Ollie Obenour finally make his return to the diamond after missing six straight games. He injured his left hamstring on April 4 against San Jose State, causing him to miss all three games against New Mexico the following weekend. His bat missing from the lineup contributed to the two losses the Cougs suffered against the Lobos.
Surprisingly, Obenour got the start out in right field despite all of his previous starts coming at second base. The freshman held his own in the outfield, committing no errors, but went 0-3 at the plate contributing to the Cougs’ quiet day offensively.
With game one of this MWC matchup tipping heavily in favor of Nevada, the Cougs slide down to fourth place in the division at 7-9. Nevada claws their way to second place with a record of 9-7. The remaining games are on Friday and Saturday at Bailey-Brayton Field.
