Wolf Pack needs sweep of Rebels to become MW co-champions

The Nevada baseball team will contend for a share of the Mountain West championship this week at Peccole Park, hosting rivals UNLV in the regular season finale and in Governor’s Series action.

The Wolf Pack (31-21, 18-9) and Rebels (23-28, 13-14) will meet today with first pitch times set for 6 p.m. and 1 p.m. on Saturday at Peccole.

Saturday’s game will be Senior Day for Nevada, who will honor seniors Michael Fain, Bryce Greager, Justin Hazard, Sam Held, Alex Lott, Cameron Rowland, Christian Stolo and Zach Wilkins prior to first pitch.

All three games will be streamed live online by the Mountain West Network and will also be broadcast on the Wolf Pack Radio Network, which is available on 1060 AM and online. Tickets are available for purchase at NevadaWolfPack.com or by calling (775) 348-PACK.

Nevada is looking to repeat as MW champions. The Pack needs to win all three games against the Rebels to become co-champions along with Fresno State, who finished their conference slate with a 21-9 record. Fresno State (21-9), Nevada (18-9) and New Mexico (18-9) could potentially split the MW title.

The Wolf Pack is also looking to win Governor’s Series points in baseball for the second straight season. Nevada swept the Rebels earlier this season, and needs two wins to clinch Governor’s Series points prior to the postseason.

With a three-game sweep of UNLV, Nevada would become Mountain West co-champions. Nevada is looking to repeat as conference champions for the first time in program history. The Pack is also in pursuit of its fifth all-time conference title.

Nevada’s position to become MW champions has stunned the league, as the Wolf Pack were selected sixth in the 2016 MW Preseason Coaches Poll. Nevada lost seven starters and three All-Americans from last year’s teams. First-year head coach T.J. Bruce and Nevada’s re-loaded lineup has exceeded expectation and is now looking for a league title.

The Wolf Pack fell to 17-20 overall on April 23. In 15 games since then, Nevada has posted a 14-1 overall record with a 10-1 mark in Mountain West play. Nevada has shown impressive improvement this year. Nevada opened the season with a 0-3-1 record in its first four three-game weekend series. The Wolf Pack has since posted an 8-1 record in its past nine three-game series.

Nevada is the only team in the Mountain West to rank in the top three of all major statistical categories. The Wolf Pack leads the conference in fielding percentage (.974) and ranks third in earned run average (5.01) and batting average (.306).

Junior Miles Mastrobuoni was named Mountain West Player of the Week on Monday, which marked the third straight week Nevada has earned a conference honor.