RENO, Nevada – The Seattle University pitching staff kept giving the University of Nevada scoring opportunities, and the Wolf Pack finally converted on those chances in the final two innings, scoring eight runs in the eighth and ninth frames to earn an 11-10 victory over the Redhawks Saturday afternoon at Peccole Park.
Seattle U scored first as Trent Oleszczuk (Beaverton, Ore.) led off with a single and Doug Kincaid(Portland, Ore.) advanced him to third with a one-out single. Josh Kalalau (University Place, Wash.) sent a ball deep into the left-field gap for a double that scored both Oleszczuk and Kincaid. Sean Narby sent a single to right field, but Kalalau was thrown out at home plate, keeping the Redhawk lead at 2-0.
In the third inning, Oleszczuk led off with a walk, and Kalalau sent a blooper into shallow center field, with a bobble by the Wolf Pack fielder allowing the runners to reach second and third base. Jace Sloan (Puyallup, Wash.) doubled to right-center field, driving in both Oleszczuk and Kalalau, and Sean Narby (Auburn, Wash.) followed with a single that scored Sloan to increase Seattle U’s lead to 5-0.
Seattle U starter Brandon Kizer (Marysville, Wash.) lasted into the sixth inning, but he had issues with his control, walking two and hitting four batters. However, an RBI single by Ryan Somers (Sammamish, Wash.) in the fifth and a double by Somers with two outs in the seventh and two strikes on him that brought Sloan home gave the Redhawks a 7-3 advantage.
The Redhawks seemingly put the game away in the eighth inning as Oleszczuk, who has reached base on all 10 plate appearances so far this weekend, walked and Kincaid sprayed a blooper just inside the left field line for a double to put two runners on with two outs. Kalalau drove both runners in with a double to left field and then hustled around to score on an infield single by Sloan, extended Seattle U’s advantage to 10-3.
Nevada (9-17) drew three consecutive walks to lead off the bottom of the seventh, and Braden Shipley came home when Brock Stassi was hit by a pitch. Bryan Dalton (Vancouver, Wash.) came in and induced a flyout from Brian Barnett that scored Nick Melino, followed by consecutive strikeouts to end the inning and keep Seattle U in front, 10-5.
Waylen Sing Chow led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a single to center field, followed by an infield single from Michael Turay. Pinch hitter Tommy Niebergall sent a grounder to Sloan, but his throw to force Turay at second base was not handled by Redhawk shortstop Nick Latta (Tacoma, Wash.), loading the bases with nobody out.
After Dalton struck out Melino, Joe Kohan brought the Wolf Pack to within one run on a grand slam home run to left-center field. Stassi drew a walk and, after Barnett flew out to Kalalau, Garrett Yrigoyen completed the comeback with his first home run of the season, a shot over the left field wall.
In total, six Seattle U pitchers allowed eight walks, hit six batters, and committed a balk to help Nevada score its 11 runs on only 10 hits. The Redhawks lost despite earning 17 hits and 10 runs in the game, the most hits and the second-most runs in a game this season for Seattle U.
Somers played the best offensive game of his career, going 4-for-4 with a double, a stolen base, and two runs batted in. Oleszczuk went 3-for-3 with two walks and three runs scored, while Kincaid and Kalalau each went 3-for-5, with Kincaid scoring three times and Kalalau scoring twice and driving in four runs.
Seattle University (12-13) concludes the three-game series against Nevada tomorrow, April 10, with the first pitch scheduled for 11 a.m. The Redhawks then return home and are scheduled to start a four-game homestand Tuesday, April 12, against Washington starting at 6 p.m. at Bannerwood Park in Bellevue.
Nevada 11, Seattle University 10 (Apr 09, 2011 at Reno, NV)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Seattle University.. 203 010 130 - 10 17 1 (12-13)
Nevada.............. 001 002 026 - 11 10 1 (9-17)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pitchers: Seattle University - Brandon Kizer; Cory Mack(6); Eric Yardley(6); Cam Christian(8);
Blaine Jones(8); Bryan Dalton(8) and Ryan Somers; Michael Tevlin. Nevada - Joukoff, Mark;
Rogstad, Tyler(3); Denham, Rickey(6); McClaren, Jayson(7); Prihar, Sean(9) and Turay, Michael.
Win-Prihar, Sean(1-0) Loss-Bryan Dalton(0-1) T-3:24 A-549
HR NEVADA - Kohan, Joe; Yrigoyen, Garrett.
Weather: Partly sunny, 40s
B. Kizer faced 2 batters in the 6th.
C. Christian faced 2 batters in the 8th.
B. Jones faced 2 batters in the 8th.