In the first game, Nevada (14-11) took the lead in the bottom of the third inning when Westley Moss reached base on a bunt single, stole second, and scored on a double by Shaun Kort. With two outs, Brian Barnett launched his fifth home run of the season over the left field fence to increase Nevada's lead to 3-0.
The Wolf Pack used the long ball again in the fourth inning, as Carlos Escobar walked and Kevin Rodland followed with a two-run home run to left-center field, his fourth homer of the season. Kort walked, Brock Stassi reached on an error, and Barnett hit his second home run of the game, this time a three-run blast to extend Nevada's advantage to 8-0. Two more SeattleU errors and a passed ball allowed Brett Hart to score the Wolf Pack's ninth run of the game.
Josh Kutz (Seattle, Wash.) put SeattleU on the board in the fifth inning with his first home run of the season, and Doug Buser (Orinda, Calif.) followed with his own long ball to left field. In the sixth inning, after Josh Kalalau (University Place, Wash.) walked and Sean Narby (Auburn, Wash.) singled, Riley Tompkins (Lynnwood, Wash.) hit his third home run of the season, another blast over the left field fence, to pull the Redhawks within four at 9-5. However, Rodland hit his second home run of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning to give Nevada a 12-5 lead.
Seattle University kept up its offensive run in the seventh inning when Buser, Cullen Hendrickson (Auburn, Wash.), and Kalalau singled to load the bases. Narby cleared the bases with a double to left-center field to bring the Redhawks back within four runs at 12-8. Narby struck again in the ninth with a two-run home run to cut Nevada's lead in half, but Jesse Ratner was able to get the final two outs to save the game for the Wolf Pack.
SeattleU starter Conor Spink (Eagle River, Alaska) took the loss after giving up seven hits, four walks, and eight runs, five of them earned, in 3 2/3 innings. Max Whieldon (Trabuco Hills, Calif.) kept the Redhawks in the game with another solid relief performance, allowing just one hit in two innings of work. Chris Garcia earned the win for Nevada after pitching the first five innings, giving up three hits, three walks, and two runs while striking out five batters.
The first inning of game two started in Nevada's favor as Moss singled, Kort reached on an error, and Stassi drove both of them in with a double to right-center field. Nick Melino laced a single up the middle to score Stassi, and, after Garrett Yrigoyen singled, Joe Kohan drove in Melino with a single. Walks drawn by Michael Turay, Rodland, and Moss resulted in two more runs and a 6-0 Nevada lead.
The Wolf Pack continued to expand their lead in the second inning as Barnett walked, Melino doubled, and Yrigoyen sent them both home with a double down the left field line. Singles by Kohan, Turay, and Rodland, plus a sacrifice fly by Moss, made the score 11-0 in Nevada's favor. Stassi led off the third inning with a triple and scored on a groundout by Melino for another Wolf Pack run.
SeattleU broke through in the fifth inning when Skip Spencer (Springfield, Ore.) singled, advanced to second on a single by Nick Latta (Tacoma, Wash.), and scored when Hendrickson sent a single up the middle. After Nevada scored three times in the bottom of the fifth, the Redhawks added another run in the sixth as Nate Roberts (Silverdale, Wash.) was hit by a pitch and came around to score on a single by Tompkins. In the seventh and final inning of the second game, pinch hitter Bryndon Ecklund (Montesano, Wash.) singled, advanced to second on a ground out, and scored on a double to center field by Kalalau.
SeattleU starter Arlo Evasick (Chimacum, Wash.) was the losing pitcher, lasting only 2/3rds of an inning after giving up five hits and six runs, only one of them an earned run. Tom Jameson picked up the victory for Nevada, allowing only six hits and one run in five innings while striking out six Redhawk batters.
Seattle University (3-19) will finish the series against Nevada Saturday, April 3, at 12 noon, with live audio available on GoSeattleU.com. The Redhawks will return home next week for games at Bannerwood Park in Bellevue against British Columbia (April 6 at 6 p.m.), Pacific Lutheran (April 8 at 4 p.m.), and Concordia (April 9 at 4 p.m.).