Nevada's Achelpohl pitches a gem

  RENO -- Derek Achelpohl is twice the pitcher he was last season.

  "I've developed two more pitches this season that have really helped me," the Nevada Wolf Pack senior said Sunday at Peccole Park. "I'm really starting to feel comfortable with all of them."

  All four of Achelpohl's pitches worked nearly to perfection as the Pack nipped the Oregon Ducks, 2-1, in front of 687 fans to earn a split in the four-game series. The right-hander went seven innings and allowed just a run on five hits while striking out seven.

  "Last year he tried to get by with two pitches and he struggled because he really didn't have an out pitch," Pack coach Gary Powers said. "This year he has two out pitches and he's really doing a nice job."

  Achelpohl, who has added a changeup and a slider this year to go along with his fastball and curveball, has now allowed one earned run this season in 16 innings for a microscopic earned run average of 0.56. A year ago the Fresno City College transfer had an ERA on 6.49 over 52.2 innings.

  "To give us seven strong innings in the fourth game of a four-game series was huge," Powers said.

  Achelpohl allowed back-to-back singles by Andrew Schmidt and Jett Hart with two outs in the second but he fanned John Adamson to end the inning. A walk to Mitch Karraker, followed by a double by Colby Sokol and a run-scoring single by Schmidt in the fourth inning, turned into the only Oregon run of the day.

  Powers said Achelpohl, who has now made three starts this year (along with two relief appearances), is making a strong bid for one of the coveted four starting spots once Western Athletic Conference play opens April 3 at Louisiana Tech.

  "He is certainly pitching himself into that," Powers said.

  "I'm just going to take what I get and just go out there and do what I can do," said Achelpohl, who started six games a year ago and appeared in relief eight times. "That's all I can do."

  The 6-foot-1 Achelpohl was also helped by his defense in the fifth inning. Right fielder Brett Hart gunned down Curtis Raulinaitis after the Oregon hitter strayed too far off first base after slashing a single. Third baseman Tyson Jaquez then ended the inning by making a nice diving stop to his left and throwing out K.C. Serna.

  "Those are the little things that you need to win games," said Powers, whose team improved to 6-10. "Those are the things we haven't been getting. But we're getting better."

  The Wolf Pack, which has now scored just 54 runs in 16 games (3.4 a game), continued to struggle at the plate. Shaun Kort drove in both Pack runs, with a double in the first to score Westley Moss and a ground out to short in the sixth to bring home Brock Stassi.

Powers, though, saw some positive signs.

  "Just the fact that we got a ground ball to score a run was a nice positive step," Powers said. "Again, that's the type of stuff we haven't been getting. In that type of situation, with a runner on third and less than two outs, we would usually pop up or strike out. Getting a ground ball like that is another one of those little things that help you win games."

  Sammy Miller worked the final two scoreless innings for his second save of the year.

  "We've been getting good pitching," Powers said. "The last two days the wind has been blowing out to left and we got a 3-0 game (a Pack loss on Saturday) and a 2-1 game. When was the last time you've seen that?"