RENO - Rod Scurry left the game in the seventh inning with his team ahead by seven runs and appeared to be headed for his first win of the season.
But what the Galena High grad didn't count on was the Nevada bullpen blowing the lead and needing a comeback to win the game, 9-8, Saturday afternoon against Utah Valley State in front of 895 fans at Peccole Park.
"We were very fortunate that we executed the things we needed to execute to score the winning run," Nevada coach Gary Powers said. "It's a disappointment for Scurry to not get his first win. We won the game as a team."
The Wolf Pack (12-12) concludes its series with the Wolverines (5-13) today at 1 p.m. before hosting Saint Mary's College on Tuesday. The Western Athletic Conference season begins Friday when Nevada travels to Hawai'i.
"It's tough to have a six-run lead and see it dwindle like this. It's nice we came back," said Jacob Kaup, who drove in two runs, one in the first inning and the other in the fourth.
Scurry pitched six strong innings, allowing three earned runs and six hits, but received a no decision. Kody Keroher picked up the win after bailing out reliever Matt Renfree, who gave up five runs in the disastrous seventh inning.
Powers said Scurry has improved in each of his five starts. The junior allowed three runs in a loss to UC Irvine last weekend before giving up three against Utah Valley State.
"He's pitching better and more consistent," Powers said. "He did a nice job for six innings."
"I felt pretty good today. The weather was great," Scurry said. "They're really aggressive, swinging at a lot of pitches."
David Ciarlo's RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning propelled the Wolf Pack to its second win in a row.
After Mike Hale led off with a single, he advanced to third on Matt Suleski's hit-and-run single into right field. Ciarlo, facing a 1-2 count with one out, dumped a single into left field.
"He's seeing the ball better," Powers said of Ciarlo.
Keroher gave up one walk in the eighth inning before retiring the side in order in the ninth.
Normally, Keroher would come around the ninth inning, but Powers wanted to stop the Wolverines' momentum.
"We needed him to come out and do that," Powers said. "They had momentum the last three innings of the game."
With the bases loaded in the seventh inning, Keiki Albino tripled on the fourth pitch from Renfree to cut the deficit to 8-4. Dan Bulow singled in a run, and Eli Siesk doubled in another to bring the Wolverines within a run. Ryan Jones lined a RBI single off shortstop Owen Mackedon's glove to tie the game.
Nevada broke a 1-1 tie in the fifth inning by scoring six runs.
Chris Siewart walked with the bases load to give Nevada a 2-1 lead followed by Nick Sansone's sacrifice fly to right field. Jason Rodriguez ripped a RBI single up the middle with two outs, and Konrad Schmidt doubled in two runs. Kaup singled in the sixth run of the inning.