Oregon reverses fortune, beats Pack 6-5

RENO " Brock Stassi expected more out of himself Friday afternoon at Peccole Park.

"I hung a changeup and a curveball and both were hit out of the park," the Wolf Pack starting pitcher said after a 6-5 loss to the Oregon Ducks. "I have to do a better job than that."

Head coach Gary Powers, though, said Stassi is the last one to blame for dropping the Wolf Pack's record to 5-9 on the year.

"He was awesome," said Powers of the sophomore. "If we play defense behind him this is a win. We didn't support him at all, in the field or at the plate."

The Wolf Pack made two critical errors behind Stassi, leading to four unearned runs. The Pack also left 14 runners on base, 10 in scoring position.

"Our returning players are killing us right now," Powers said. "Our freshmen have been fine. They are playing well. It's our experienced players that are hurting us. Their approach at the plate has been out of control."

Junior Shaun Kort grounded out to short with the bases loaded to end the eighth inning and senior Matt Bowman popped out foul to first with runners on first and second to end the game.

"Our experienced guys are not playing like they have experience," Powers said. "We had our experienced guys up there late in the game in opportunity situations and we didn't do the job. That has to change if we're going to turn this around. That kind of stuff can't continue."

Senior third baseman Tyson Jaquez made two errors leading to a pair of unearned runs in both the third and sixth innings. "Those plays have to be made," Powers said.

Stassi, though, took responsibility for the loss. The 6-foot-2 lefthander went 8.1 innings, allowing just two earned runs on 10 hits. He allowed a single to Caleb Tommasini and a two-run double to Curtis Raulinaitis after Jaquez's first error in the third and a two-run homer to Jett Hart in the sixth after Jaquez's second error.

"It's my job to pick up my defense in situations like that," said Stassi, who struck out four and left the game after walking his first hitter in the ninth. "I should have struck that guy (Hart) out with that 2-2 pitch. But I hung a 2-2 curveball right in his wheelhouse. As soon as I let it go I knew."

The Wolf Pack fell behind 3-0 after a solo homer by Oregon's Eddy Rodriguez (his first of the year) to lead off the fourth inning. Nevada, though, evened things at 3-3 with three runs in the fourth. Travis Simas doubled and scored on an error, Bowman reached on an error and scored on a single by Kort and Kevin Rodland walked and scored on a wild pitch.

The Pack, though, then left seven runners on base in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings combined. Nick Melino and Simas singled in the sixth, Jaquez was hit by a pitch and Michael Turay singled with two outs in the seventh and Westley Moss, Bowman and Rodland each walked with two outs to load the bases in the eighth. All were left stranded.

The Pack, which left 12 runners on base in a 6-5 victory over Oregon to open this four-game series on Thursday, has now left an average of eight runners on base in each of its 14 games this season.

"That's been happening all year," Powers said.

The Ducks (7-7) and Wolf Pack will complete this non-league series with 1 p.m. games today and Sunday.

The Pack will go on the road after Sunday's game for five games (one at UNLV on March 18, three at UC Irvine March 20-22 and one at Saint Mary's on March 24) before returning home on March 27 to open a four-game series with Utah Valley State.

"We're close to turning this around," Stassi said. "We have good hitters. They'll come around. And once we turn the corner there will be no stopping us."