RENO - Nevada's offense got a jolt from an unlikely, yet much-needed source Tuesday against Pacific.
Light-hitting Eric Newman blasted a grand slam and two singles to spark the Wolf Pack to an easy 17-6 nonconference baseball win over the Tigers Tuesday at Peccole Park.
The win was Nevada's fifth straight and upped its record to 28-22 heading into this weekend's showdown against league leading Rice. Nevada is 12-9, six games behind the defending national champion Owls.
After two hits on Sunday against Louisiana Tech and three against Pacific, Newman has raised his average to .260, a jump of 34 points in four games. The homer was his first of the season.
"I had a couple of bad at-bats (recently)," Newman said. "I was glad to get some pitches to hit today. You have to take advantage when you get opportunities to play.
"I didn't know it was out. I had to look a couple of times. There were a lot of laughs (in the dugout)."
With Bub Madrid's return from a jammed neck still uncertain, the Wolf Pack need Newman to contribute with more than just his glove. Newman hit five homers in two seasons at Lassen Community College.
Newman's slam, which gave Nevada a 4-0 lead in the second inning, wasn't the only one of the day for Nevada, which hammered three round-trippers.
Erick Streelman launched a grand slam in the fourth to highlight a six-run inning, upping the Wolf Pack lead to 11-1. Streelman was coming off a 6-for-10 effort last weekend against the Bulldogs.
And, light-hitting Tino Psaradellis (.176) capped the barrage with a two-run homer in the eighth to complete the scoring.
"Everybody on this team is capable (of going deep) if they get their pitch," Nevada coach Gary Powers said. "I'm happy for both of them (Newman and Psaradellis)."
Powers also was pleased with his seven-man pitching staff, which gave up only two earned runs and five hits. Bryan Johnson picked up the win, his first of the season. He allowed only one hit in three innings.
"I was happy with the effort of some of the pitchers who haven't had a chance (to throw much)," he said. "They had decent command and were aggressive in the strike zone."
Overall, Powers really had nothing to complain about until the ninth when three errors, two by ex-Carson standout Joe Mercer at third base, led to four unearned runs for the Tigers.
It wasn't exactly what Powers wanted to see with Rice on the horizon. The Owls outscored Nevada 47-6 earlier this year.
"We have to be a lot better defensively, or Rice will make us pay," he said. "Their pitching, we can't afford to give back (runs)."
Nevada will only have to face two of Rice's three standout pitchers - Phillip Humber and Wade Townsend this weekend. Jeff Niemann has been out with a groin pull, and has pitched just one inning in the last several weeks.
"It's going to be a fun weekend," outfielder Chris Gimenez said. "I've been looking forward to a little rematch. We're definitely going to improve on what happened the last time. They're coming off a series loss (Rice went 1-2 against Hawai'i last weekend) for the first time since 2001. We've been pitching well and hitting well.
"Hawaii beat them and we played Hawaii tough. Everyone knows about their pitching. I think we've got a good offense. We've been playing real well the last 25 games (18-10 in last 28 games). We've been playing our best ball of the season (in that time)."
NOTES: Jacob Butler, Bake Krukow and Mercer were the only starters without a hit, though Mercer did hit two sacrifice fly balls...The win over Pacific was the third this year for the Wolf Pack. Nevada has outscored Pacific 38-20 in that span... After giving up a leadoff double in the fourth leading to Pacific's first run, Ryan Harbaugh retired the next six hitters he faced.
Contact Darrell Moody at dmoody@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1281.
