RENO - Nevada third baseman/outfielder Matt Bowman of Dayton will miss the rest of the 2007 baseball season with a torn right pectoral muscle.
Bowman, who was injured sliding into a base against UC Riverside on Feb. 2, had missed the last four games. He underwent two MRIs, and the injury was discovered during the second exam on Tuesday.
Bowman said it's possible he could have surgery next week, and that team trainer Chris Lange told him he wouldn't be doing baseball-type things for three or four months.
Bowman, the best player on Nevada's team, was off to a fast start. He was hitting .368 with two homers and four RBI. Six of his seven hits this year were for extra bases, and his slugging percentage was a whopping .789.
"When it first happened, it was a sensation I'd never felt before; weird," Bowman said. "The way I was progressing the last week and a half, I thought I would be OK. It sucks to know this now. I've not even talked to the doctor yet."
Nevada coach Gary Powers said he knew the injury was serious when Bowman had to leave the game, and was unable to play the rest of the weekend and the following weekend at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
"As tough as Matt is, I certainly knew it was serious when it happened," Powers said before Wednesday's practice. "He's played with injuries before. He would do everything he could not to let some little things keep him out."
When asked if ex-Carson and WNCC star Aaron Henry would forego a planned redshirt year and be activated, Powers said he didn't know.
"We'll see," Powers said. "I don't want this (injury) to affect anybody else. We're playing 18 position players as it is now. Now we have 17. We'll look at it and see."
Nevada finishes its 12-game season-opening road trip with a three-game series this weekend at Pacific.