Runs might be difficult to come by this weekend at Les Murakami Stadium.
The Nevada Wolf Pack offense, which has averaged 10.5 runs over its last 15 games, will be put to the test in four games starting Friday night (9:35, PT) against Hawaii.
The Wolf Pack and Rainbows' Western Athletic Conference series will feature six of the top 13 pitchers in the conference according to earned run average.
Hawaii's Josh Slaats, who won his fourth WAC Pitcher of the Week honor on Monday after pitching a seven-inning shutout against Louisiana Tech last weekend, leads the conference with a 1.71 ERA. The right-handed Slaats, who has allowed just 39 hits in 52.2 innings over nine starts, is 4-2 with a WAC-leading 56 strikeouts and just 18 walks.
The 6-foot-5, 230-pound Slaats, from San Ramon, Calif., was just 2-2 last year as a sophomore with an 8.33 ERA.
Hawaii's Alex Capaul (5-2) is 13th in the WAC in ERA at 4.93 and Sam Spangler is ninth at 4.38.
Slaats and Spangler have yet to allow a home run this season in 104 combined innings.
The Wolf Pack also has three pitchers in the top 13 in WAC earned run average with Jeremy Cole (3.47, 3rd), Brock Stassi (3.62, 4th) and Chris Garcia (4.35, seventh).
Hawaii's staff is first in the WAC overall with a 4.91 ERA. The Pack is second at 5.66.
Slaats is the ace of the staff but the Rainbows also feature a stingy bullpen. Hawaii's Lenny Linsky leads the WAC with 18 appearances and nine saves. Teammates Blair Walters and Jesse Moore (three saves) have both pitched in 15 games.
Getting an early lead might be the key to this series. Hawaii is 15-0 when leading after seven innings and the Wolf Pack is 14-0 when leading after seven.
The Wolf Pack is fourth in the WAC at 3-4-1 (22-15-1 overall). Hawaii is last (seventh) in the WAC at 4-8 (21-20 overall).
In the other two four-game WAC series this weekend, Sacramento State (14-22-1, 3-5) will be at San Jose State (15-23, 3-5) and Louisiana Tech (21-18, 6-6) will be at New Mexico State (31-12-1, 9-2-1).
KORT ERRORLESS STREAK ENDS: Wolf Pack first baseman Shaun Kort saw his consecutive-game errorless streak end Friday night against Fresno State at 49 games.
Kort, whose last error was on April 25, 2009 handled 430 chances without an error before dropping a throw last Friday in the fourth inning in the 8-3 loss to the Bulldogs.
The error occurred on a throw from pitcher Chris Garcia, who flipped the ball to Kort with his glove. Kort also committed his second error of the season two games later in the sixth inning of the second game of Saturday's doubleheader against Fresno State.
KORT HOT WITH BAT: Kort, though, had an incredible weekend with the bat. The senior was 9-for-14 (he was 8-for-8 at one point) against Fresno State with six RBI and now leads all WAC players in conference games with an eye-opening .607 average (17-for-28) and .684 on-base percentage.
Kort, who has struck out just once in 28 WAC at-bats this year, also moved up the Wolf Pack charts in several career categories this weekend.
He is now tied with Andy Dominique for third place in games played with 213. Matt Maguire currently holds the record at 225. Kort is also second in Pack history with 210 starts. Maguire is first at 218.
Kort is now just two doubles away from Matt Bowman's record of 68 and he moved into fourth place in career RBI with 214 (one behind Don Price, who is third with 215).
Kort also jumped over Dominique (272 hits) into third place in career hits with 280. Joe Inglett holds the record with 321.
WOLF PACK IN HAWAII: The Wolf Pack hasn't enjoyed much success lately in Hawaii. The Pack has lost 12 of its last 15 games in Honolulu dating back to 2005.
Two of those games were last year in the WAC tournament (against Hawaii and San Jose State). The Pack's 3-12 record in Honolulu came after sweeping a three-game series against the Rainbows on the road in 2003.
The Pack is 9-15 at Honolulu since joining the WAC in 2001.
The last two Pack victories at Hawaii, though, were keyed by players still on the team.
Stassi went seven innings as a freshman to beat Hawaii 4-3 in 2008. Stassi allowed 10 hits and fanned five in the game.
Kort, also a freshman at the time, drove in three runs in the Pack's 5-4 victory at Hawaii in 2007.
CIRCLING THE BASES: Outfielder Nick Melino has a .363 career average in 245 at-bats over the last two seasons . . . Hawaii is the best fielding team in the WAC at .975 and has committed a conference-low 39 errors . . . Stassi is third in the WAC in hitting at .392. Kort is seventh at .381 and Brian Barnett is 14th at .354 . . . Barnett leads the Pack with 10 home runs and 46 RBI . . . Hawaii's Kolten Wong is 16th in the WAC in hitting at .352 . . . Nevada's Cullen Mahoney leads the WAC with a 1.087 slugging average. Kort is second at 1.071 . . . The Pack has scored 157 runs over its last 15 games after scoring 143 runs over its first 23 games. The Pack is 10-4-1 over its last 15 games after going 12-11 over the first 23 games . . . The Pack is 12-4-1 when Mahoney starts at second base and just 10-11 when he doesn't.
