SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Junior Luis Pimentel-Guerrero finished 3-for-4 with his first career home run as a Hornet and four RBI to pace the offense, but Nevada rallied for five unanswered runs in the sixth and seventh innings to lift the visiting Wolf Pack to a come-from-behind 8-5 victory over Sacramento State on Monday night at John Smith Field.
Playing their fourth game in as many days, the Hornets fell to 9-7 overall after playing their first midweek game of the season. Nevada improved to 10-6, out-hitting its hosts by a 13-7 count on the night.
The three hits for Pimentel-Guerrero were a Sacramento State career high, marking his first three-hit game of his career in the green and gold and his fifth multi-hit game of the season, tying him for second on the team in that category.
Four other Hornets finished with hits, including sophomore Jakob Poturnak, who rapped a single to lead-off the second inning, extending his hitting streak to 13 consecutive games. Junior JP Smith added an RBI double to account for Sacramento State's only other run.
A single by Pimentel-Guerrero drove home Cameron Sewell in the second for the game's first run, but Nevada answered back in a big way in the third, getting a pair of singles before Jackson Waller left the yard with his first home run of the year for a 3-1 advantage.
Sacramento State responded in the home half of the fourth after Sewell was hit by a pitch and Elie Kligman reached on an infield single to put a pair on for Pimentel-Guerrero, who launched his first home run off the top of the batter's eye in right field to regain the lead for the Hornets.
Smith's run-scoring double that got to the wall in right centerfield made it a two-run lead for the Hornets, but the advantage didn't last long.
The Wolf Pack plated the tying runs in the sixth, taking advantage of an error in the outfield to knot things up at five apiece. Nevada then took the lead for good with three in the seventh on an RBI double and a two-run home run for the final tallies.
With the lead in hand, the Wolf Pack bullpen then took over, retiring the final 10 Hornet batters to nail down the win.
Zach Garber (1-0) earned the win in relief, allowing only one hit and a walk while striking out two in his lone inning of work. Three relievers the combined for the final three hitless shutout innings, striking out four, with Ethan O'Neal picking up his third save of the year with a perfect ninth.
Dylan Torres (0-2) suffered the loss, charged with three runs on two hits without recording an out while facing three batters in the seventh. Starter Colin Hunter was stuck with the no-decision, striking out five in his 3.2 innings.
Sacramento State closes its run of five games in five days on Tuesday night (March 11) at 6 p.m., traveling to Fresno State for a single non-conference game.
