Western Nevada baseball beats the Astros

Any time a team can shut out the Reno Astros in baseball, it's an impressive accomplishment.

Western Nevada College was outstanding on the mound and on defense in a 6-0 win over the Astros in a scrimmange on Friday at Moana Stadium. The Astros lost for the ninth time this season in falling to 58-9 in 67 games.

"I'd be hard pressed to believe the've been shut out before," said Wildcat coach D.J. Whittemore about the Astros this season.

Wildcat pitchers had just three strikeouts against the Astros, but had plenty of support from their defense.

"Those guys are tough to strike out," Whittemore said. "Our guys threw well. We played good defense behind them, too."

Kyle Starratt started the first three innings and Jose Barajas went the next three innings, striking out one. Wes Osmer went 1.1 innings, striking out two and recording a key double play in the seventh inning.

With the bases loaded and one out in the eighth, Jordan Blanchard came on and got a double play and went on to finish the game. In additin, the Wildcats also threw out a runner at the plate.

Western Nevada scored two in the second, three runs in the sixth and one run in the seventh on Logan Odom's RBI double. Jerome Pena had a two-run double, Lance Ray was 2-for-3 with two runs, Logan Parsley went 3-for-5, Cliff Shepard had an RBI single and Brian Barnett had an RBI single and a run. Wildcat assistant coach Mike Gillies had two hits, including a double for the Astros.

Whittemore also praised the play of catcher Chuck Howard, who threw out a runner at second and picked off a runner at first. "Howard did a great job calling the game," Whittemore said.

The two teams will play again today in two seven-inning games, beginning at 3 p.m. at Moana Stadium. The Wildcats still have two of their top pitchers available in Kyle Farrell and James Nygren and both will throw today.