RENO " Gary Powers wants to see a little more fight in his Nevada Wolf Pack baseball team.
"I'm concerned with how we're competing right now," the Nevada coach said after the Wolf Pack's 11-2 loss to the Washington Huskies Friday in the home opener at Peccole Park. "I don't think we're competing the way we should be right now. At times like this you have to look yourself in the mirror and know the only way out of this is to work harder and compete harder."
The Wolf Pack competed well with the Huskies through seven innings. Former Western Nevada College player Tyson Jaquez drove in a run with a single in the second inning for a 1-0 Pack lead and Dayton High graduate Matt Bowman drilled his fourth homer of the young season to tie the game at 2-2 in the sixth.
Washington (5-5), which swept Oregon in a two-game series earlier this week, broke the game open with four runs in the eighth and five in the ninth off five Pack pitchers.
"Nobody on this team likes to lose," said Jaquez, who had a single and a double in three at-bats. "We're all struggling. But we'll figure it out. But we know we can't be taking too many more of these losses."
The loss was the Pack's fifth in a row and seventh in their last eight games, dropping their record to 2-7. It is the Pack's worse start after nine game since the 2001 team also began 2-7.
"Our guys have to figure it out," said Powers, who remains three victories shy of his 800th career win. "When you are struggling your opponent is not going to just back away. That's when they get hungrier."
Powers would love his team to become hungry like a starving wolf.
"It's about being focused and competing," Powers said.
Stephen Bautista started for the Pack on the mound and was nearly unhittable early, allowing just a hit and a walk through four innings.
"He was dominating," Powers said. "But then, all of a sudden, we self-destruct on the mound. He has great stuff. With him right now it's a psychological thing, something he needs to get past. I know he has the stuff. I still believe in him. But he needs to go out there and consistently have the right approach."
Bautista faced just three batters in the fifth, hitting two of them and walking the other.
"I cruised through the first four innings," said Bautista, who has now walked 12 and hit six in just 12.1 innings this year during three starts. "I just couldn't get ahead of hitters. I just need more focus out there."
Bautista also failed to get out of the fifth inning in his last start against Kansas State on Feb. 27. He breezed through the first four innings in that game before allowing seven runs in the fifth. The junior right-hander has allowed just two hits during 8.1 innings over his last two starts but has walked eight and hit five.
"I'm close," Bautista said. "I'll be OK. This game (against Washington) was a lot better than last time."
The Wolf Pack also continued to struggle at the plate, getting just four hits against the Huskies. The Pack is hitting just .215 as a team and has scored just 32 runs on 65 hits in nine games.
"We're going to turn this around any day now," said Bowman, who is hitting just .212 despite his four home runs. "We can swing the bat. It's just a matter of getting it going."
"Everyone is pressing now," Jaquez said. "Our timing is just off right now."