SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Freshman Luke Oyler and sophomore Myles Walton each clubbed the first home runs of their collegiate careers on Tuesday night, but it wasn't enough to bring Sacramento State back from an early deficit as visiting Nevada posted a 6-4 win at John Smith Field.
The Hornets fell to 28-21 overall following their final midweek game of the season and now turn their attention to the final two weekends of Western Athletic Conference play, holding on to first place heading into this weekend's series at Utah Valley.
The Wolf Pack improved to 29-19 overall with the win, completing a sweep of a three-game midweek "series" from Sacramento State.
Trailing heading into the fifth, the Hornets got on the board with one swing from Oyler, who deposited a full-count offering from reliever Zach Garber (2-0) over the wall in centerfield to lead-off the inning and break up the shutout.
After Nevada extended its lead with two runs in the seventh, it was Walton's turn in the eighth with two outs after an error gave Sacramento State new life in the inning. After
JP Smith reached on a dropped pop-up,
Elie Kligman dropped a single down the right field line with two outs to put runners on the corners.
Walton the got ahead in the count, 2-1, before taking the next pitch over the wall in left for a three-run shot and closing the Hornets to within two runs with three outs to play with.
However, Ryan Oakes, who entered in relief of Garber in the fifth, put an end to the rally, retiring the side in order in the ninth to end the game. Oakes picked up his first save of the year, allowing three unearned runs on three hits over 4.1 innings of work.
Sacramento State, which out-hit Nevada by an 8-4 count, was led at the plate by junior
Luis Pimentel-Guerrero, who led all Hornet hitters with a 2-for-4 night, including his first triple of the year.
This weekend's series in Orem, Utah, begins on Friday (May 9) at 5 p.m. PT, with game two scheduled for Saturday (May 10) at 3 p.m. PT. Sunday's series finale is slated for a Noon PT start.
