RENO - The Tuesday blahs continued for the Nevada baseball team.
With Jacob Butler, Ben Mummy and Baker Krukow - the meat of the lineup going a combined 0-for -10 and stranding four baserunners - the Wolf Pack dropped to 0-4 on Tuesdays with a 5-4 nonconference loss to UC Davis Tuesday afternoon at Peccole Park.
Newcomers accounted for all four Nevada runs. Dayton's Matt Bowman hit his third homer of the season, and second in two games, to drive in two runs and give Nevada a 2-1 lead in the second. Terry Walsh came off the bench to deliver a clutch two-run single in the ninth, cutting the lead to 5-4.
The loss dropped Nevada to 19-15 overall heading into a tough six-game road trip with Fresno State and Hawai'i. UC Davis improved to 21-14, two of those victories coming at the expense of Nevada.
"We have our work cut out for us," coach Gary Powers said, alluding to the upcoming conference road games. "We are what we are, and we have to be the best of what we are for us to maintain our position (first place).
"Our pitching kept us in position to win the game today. Jared (Mitchell, the starter) threw strikes down in the zone. He wasn't trying to fool people. I thought Jim McCarthy pitched well. Three of our four pitchers did a good job."
Mitchell, who had thrown two innings all season, lasted 3 2/3 innings. He allowed three runs on five hits. McCarthy had his best outing of the season, throwing scoreless ball for 2 2/3 innings.
Five runs shouldn't be enough to beat the Pack on most days. On Tuesday, the Pack offense was somewhere else, especially between the third and eighth innings when it managed only one hit off the combined efforts of starter Paul Gonzales, 1-0, and middle reliever Nic Aurora. The duo struck out five, walked four and allowed just a two-out seventh-inning single by Bub Madrid.
"I don't think we had a good approach the first eight innings," Powers said.
The ninth was a different story, and thanks to Walsh's single and Derek McNeil's walk, the Pack almost pulled this one out.
After Bowman struck out looking to start the inning, Eric Newman singled off Aurora. Enter Jeremy McChesney, the Aggies' third hurler of the day. Powers sent up the seldom-used McNeil to pinch-hit for Madrid. The strategy worked, as McNeil drew a walk. Brett Hayes was hit by a pitch, loading the bases.
Walsh pinch-hit for Robert Marcial and lined a single between first and second, scoring Newman and McNeil to make it 5-4. Walsh has been on a hot streak of late. The freshman first baseman-outfielder had four hits in the series against San Jose State.
"I'm just trying to do my job and help the team win," Walsh said. "I felt pretty confident (last weekend) and saw the ball well at the plate. I want to either move the runners along or score them."
"He did a nice job," Powers said. "He took a tough pitch and drove it to right field. He did what he needed to do."
McChesney settled down and fanned both Butler, who homered four times in the SJSU series and Mummy to end the game.
"I tip my hat to their pitcher," Powers said. "Our third and fourth hitters with runners on first and third ... those two guys have driven in a lot of runs for us."
Nevada led just once, that coming in the second when Bowman laid into an 0-1 pitch and sent it well over the left-center field fence.
"It was a curve that he left up," Bowman said. "With a runner on third, I was just trying to get the ball up in the air deep enough to score the runner. It was a definitely a mistake (by Gonzales)."
Darrell Moody can be reached at dmoody@nevadaappeal.com, or by calling (775) 881-1281
