Brad Horn/Nevada Appeal
It's been nearly a year since the Western Nevada baseball team has played a game at John L. Harvey Field. In that time players have come and gone and the Wildcats are already 16 games into the race for the Scenic West Athletic Conference title. But all that time spent waiting to finally wake up in the morning and drive, or even walk, to the ballpark was worth it for them.
"My roommates and I woke up this morning, made some breakfast and got out of our own beds," WNC outfielder Brian Barnett said. "It's real nice having our fans and playing when the weather's nice.
"It's good playing on our field, it gives you a little extra motivation."
The incentive of playing at home, while taking on SWAC bottom dweller Colorado Northwestern (2-16 SWAC, 6-26) was just the mix the Wildcats needed. They swept the Spartans 4-0 and 11-0 on Friday in the first day of a two doubleheader set, the second will be played today beginning at noon.
WNC (15-3 SWAC, 21-9) wasted no time in setting the tone with Jordan Lewis on the mound in the first game. The freshman from Phoenix pitched ahead in the count nearly all six innings he was on the mound, allowing just three balls to leave the infield and two of those going for outs. He gave up three hits and struck out seven batters, with five of those coming in the last two innings he pitched.
Despite his phenomenal start, he was pulled after the sixth inning in order to give the under-used bullpen some work. Logan Odom faced four batters in the seventh, striking out two.
"Me and Logan combining for a shutout gets everyone going, that second game is pretty much in the books when you're like that," Lewis said.
The Spartans' starting pitcher, Clayton Parks, struggled to get ahead of the Wildcats' hitting. He was ahead in the count just three times in the course of the game and gave up two runs in the first inning on only two hits and seven batters.
Jerome Pena led the inning off with a walk, and scored on a double to left by the second hitter, Lance Ray. Brian Barnett, who was pitched around all day, was walked and Travis Feiner singled to center to bring in Ray and give WNC a 2-0 lead.
"When it comes to starting the first game of the series, to me, I want to start the pace, get it going," Lewis said. "You want to get that first game, get that win. Then it gives everyone that confidence to go and get the other three."
The early pace extended to the second game where Kyle Starratt breezed through the Spartans' lineup, giving up two hits in the five-inning, run-shortened game.
Western Nevada also showed it could come up with the timely hit as all 11 of its runs in the second game were scored with two outs.
"I think the key is just not changing anything," WNC coach D.J. Whittemore said. "A lot of times you can make hitting even harder than it already is by pressing or by trying to do too much. You've really got to let the game come to you by reaction and when you get good pitches to hit you've got to do something with it and when you don't you've still got to find a way to get in play."
Barnett hit a home run in the first inning on the first pitch he saw to get the Wildcats going.
"I had a feeling they were going to first-pitch fastball," said Barnett, who went 2-for-2 in each game, scored three runs and walked three times. "I wanted to take advantage of it, hit early."
Six of the Wildcats' runs came in a fifth inning that saw all but two of their 10 batters reach safely.
To go with the dominate pitching and timely hitting, the Wildcats committed just one error in the two games. They have steadily improved on that number as the season has pressed on. In their first eight games, they had 24 errors and in their last 21 they have averaged just one error a game.
"That's how you win baseball games, you throw strikes and you play defense," Whittemore said.