Appeal Staff Report
The University of Nevada baseball team fought to the end, but fell short in a 6-4 loss to Fresno State in the championship round of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament on Sunday in Ruston, La.
Nevada finished its season at 34-26 while the Bulldogs clinched a berth in the NCAA Tournament by winning the WAC Tournament title.
Mike Hale's home run to right center field in the second inning staked Nevada and David Ciarlo's home run in the third gave Nevada a 2-0 lead.
After the first two batters were retired in the fifth, Fresno State sent the next eight batters to the plate and scored five runs to take a 5-2 lead. Gavin Hedstrom and Erik Wetzel singled home runs. Tommy Mendonca added a two single and another run scored on a fielder's choice to make it 5-2. The Bulldogs added an unearned run in the sixth on shortstop Kevin Rodland's throwing error to make it 6-2.
Nevada scored one run on three hits in the seventh. Ciarlo's two-out single scored Terry Walsh to make it 6-3. Nevada added a run in the eighth for the final margin when Dayton's Matt Bowman doubled and scored on Shaun Kort's single. The Wolf Pack still had runners at first and third, but Walsh was picked off at first to end the inning.
Chris Garcia (2-5) was tagged with the loss after allowing four runs on five hits in 4.2 innings. Holden Sprague (3-2) earned the win, giving up two runs on three hits in 5.1 innings of action. Brandon Burke earned his 10th save of the season, pitching 1.2 scoreless innings, not allowing a hit.
Hale and Ciarlo each had two hits to lead Nevada.
Note: Six Nevada players were named to the 11 person All-WAC Tournament team: catcher Tyson Jaquez of Western Nevada College, second baseman David Ciarlo, shortstop Kevin Rodland, third baseman Jason Rodriguez, designated hitter Terry Walsh and pitcher Rod Scurry of Galena.