Nick Melino is back.
The Nevada Wolf Pack sophomore from Green Valley High in Henderson, Nev., actually never really went anywhere. But the outfielder who led the Wolf Pack in hitting with a .352 average last year certainly was nowhere to be found over the first two months of this season.
Melino hit .167 (5-for-30) in February and March over the first 24 games of this season after being named to the Louisville Slugger All-America team and the All-Western Athletic Conference first team after his sensational freshman season.
What a difference April has made for Melino. The switch-hitter is hitting an eye-opening .514 (19-for-37) this month over the last 10 games with 11 RBI and 10 runs scored.
Melino now finds himself third on the Wolf Pack in hitting at .358 with five doubles, two homers and 12 RBI.
The 6-foot, 205-pound Melino was 5-for-8 this past weekend as the Pack swept a three-game series at Seattle. In six games against Seattle (all in April) the 20-year-old was 11-for-17 (.647) with eight RBI.
WALTERS BREAKS OUT: Backup catcher Shawn Walters, who had just five at-bats through the Pack's first 28 games, did something on Saturday that no Pack catcher has done in over a year.
The Reno High graduate had three hits in Saturday's 22-0 victory at Seattle. It was the first time a Wolf Pack catcher had at least three hits in a game since Travis Simas did it April 9, 2009 against Hawaii at Peccole Park.
Walters, a 6-foot-1, 198-pound freshman, has gone 5-for-14 (.357) over the last six games and is now hitting .263 this season.
Simas had three hits in a game four times last year: March 18 against UNLV, April 3 and April 5 against Louisiana Tech) and April 9 against Hawaii. His third hit against Hawaii was a two-run walk-off homer in the bottom of the 12th inning in a 14-12 Pack victory.
PLUNKING THE PACK: Wolf Pack hitters were hit by a pitch five times in the three games at Seattle and have now been hit 50 times this year. The Pack was hit by a pitch 51 times all last year.
Kevin Rodland was hit twice at Seattle and now leads the team with getting hit by a pitch 15 times. The Wolf Pack record for getting hit by a pitch in one season is 29 by Corky Miller in 1998.
The team record for getting hit by a pitch in one season is 125 by the 1997 team. Miller was hit 25 times that season. Miller was just one of seven Pack players to get hit by a pitch at least 10 times in 1997.
Rodland has now been hit 34 times in his three-year Pack career. The Pack career record for getting hit by a pitch is held by Chris Gimenez, who was hit 61 times in three seasons (2002-04).
BARNETT, STASSI HONORED BY WAC: Brian Barnett and Brock Stassi were named the WAC's Hitter and Pitcher of the Week on Monday.
Barnett, hit .500 (8-for-16) to lead Nevada to a perfect 4-0 record last week. Barnett also scored eight runs and had four doubles, a home run and eight RBI.
Stassi allowed just one run on two hits with six strikeouts in eight innings pitched in a 4-1 victory against Seattle on Sunday. He retired 11 batters in a row and 15 of the final 16.
PACK BATS EXPLODE: The 22 runs on Saturday at Seattle are the Wolf Pack's most in a game since a 24-7 victory over CS Monterrey Bay on March 4, 2008 at Peccole Park.
The Pack has now scored 20 or more runs in a game 13 times since the start of the 2000 season. Three of those games have come against Fresno State (2003, 2004, 2005). The Bulldogs come to Peccole Park for a four-game WAC series starting on Friday.
LEADING THE WAC: Rodland leads the WAC in getting hit by a pitch (15 times). Westley Moss leads the conference in steals with 16, Stassi leads with five triples and Brian Barnett leads the WAC in doubles (16) and strikeouts (37).
The Wolf Pack also has three of the top five pitchers in the WAC in earned run average in Stassi (3.02, 3rd), Jeremy Cole (3.40, 4th) and Chris Garcia (3.47, 5th).
Stassi is also eighth in hitting (.391), fourth in slugging (.727) and third in on base percentage (.507).
KORT STILL PERFECT: First baseman Shaun Kort still has not made an error this year, handling 307 chances flawlessly.
Kort's last error was April 25, 2009 in the third inning in a 9-4 victory at Peccole Park against CS Bakersfield.
Kort has handled 428 consecutive chances without an error and has played 49 consecutive errorless games.
CIRCLING THE BASES: The Pack will host UC Davis Tuesday night (6 p.m.) at Peccole Park . . . Shortstop Kevin Rodland committed three errors last weekend at Seattle and has now made 13 errors this season. Rodland was charged with 15 errors in 2009 and 16 in 2008 and has now made 44 errors in three seasons . . . The Pack is 16-0-1 when leading after six innings . . . Wolf Pack pitchers combined to allow just six hits and one earned run over the final 23.2 innings against Seattle.
