Nevada Probable Lineup

PACK FINISH TIED FOR SECOND,
THIRD SEED FOR WAC TOURNAMENT
 After dropping four games at San Jose State last weekend Nevada(31-24, 18-14 WAC) finished tied for second in the final regular season Western Athletic Conference standings with Hawai`i(27-29, 18-14 WAC) but will be seeded third after losing three of four games to the Rainbows earlier this season.  The Wolf Pack will take on San Jose State in the first round of the tournament at 5:00 p.m. Pacific time on Thursday at J.C. Love Field in Ruston, La. After playing four last weekend Thursday’s game will be the fifth in row with the Spartans.
 The first game on Thursday matches top seed Fresno State(21-11) versus No. 6 Sac State(14-17) at 9:00 a.m. Pacific.  The two squads played last weekend and will meet for the fifth game in a row.  The second game of the has No. 3 Hawai`i(18-14) versus No. 5 New Mexico State(15-17) at 1:00 p.m. Pacific.
 Play continues through Sunday with the champion earning the WAC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.  Fresno State has won the last two tournament titles.
  

2008 News And Notes
 

TEAM:  For the first time this season Nevada was swept in a 4-game WAC series and were swept in doubleheader dropping all 4 games at SJSU last weekend...Nevada tied with Hawai`i for second in the WAC regular season standings but lost the No. 2 tournament seed to the Rainbows after losing 3-of-4 games in Honolulu earlier this season...The Pack are just 5-15 on the road and 1-1 at neutral sites...Nevada is 14-5 all-time at J.C. Love Field which is the site of this year’s WAC tournament...The Pack rallied twice in the bottom of the 9th to defeat Sac State(5/10&11) scoring 2 runs in a 6-5 game 2 win and a got a 3-run walk-off home run from Shaun Kort as part of a 4-run 9th in the series final to win 13-12...Nevada won its first road series of the year taking 3-for-4 games in Ruston, La. from Louisiana Tech(5/24)...The Pack played its first extra inning game of the year at Louisiana Tech(5/4) downing the La Tech Bulldogs 7-5 in 10 innings...Nevada is the only team to win a conference series from WAC Champion Fresno State this season taking 3-of-4 games from the Bulldogs April 25-27 in Reno...The Pack turned 14 double plays in its four-game home series with Fresno State(4/25-27) and top the WAC with 67...in the latest(thru 5/11 games) nationally the Pack rank third in double plays and sixth in double plays per game...Nevada is third in the WAC with a .305 batting average, tied for fourth with a .970 field percentage and rank fourth with a 5.66 ERA...in WAC play the Pack are fifth in hitting(.295) and fielding(.967) while pitching staff’s 5.89 ERA is fourth...16 times this season the Pack have scored in double figures winning 15 of those contests, the only loss when scoring double digits was a 17-10 setback to #22 Oregon State...Nevada has made use of the WAC’s new 10-run rule after 7-innings twice defeating La Tech 14-3 and NMSU 11-1 but had it turned on them three times falling 11-1 and 13-3 at Fresno State and 13-3 at Hawai`i...Nevada has won seven series this year taking 2-of-3 from UC Riverside(3/7-9), 3-of-4 from NMSU(4/4-6), Fresno State(4/25-27), at La Tech(5/2-4) and vs. Sac State(5/9-11) and all four from La Tech(3/20-22) and Utah Valley(4/11-13)...Nevada’s 9-4 loss to UNLV(3/25) snapped a season-high 5-game win streak and 8-game win streak vs. the Rebels...The Pack split its two games with the two-time College World Series Champion Oregon State Beavers winning 10-1, losing 17-10 and the third game was cancelled due to weather...Nevada had a season-high 26 hits and 24 runs in game 1 vs. CSUMB...Nevada was picked to finish third in the Preseason WAC Coaches’ Poll behind Fresno State and Louisiana Tech...Head coach Gary Powers is in his 26th season of directing the Wolf Pack baseball program in 2008 and is the longest tenured coach in the history of Nevada athletics...Powers is 8 wins from 800 for his career.

AT THE PLATE:  CF-Jason Sadoian(5/9), C-Tyson Jaquez(5/10 game 1) and 1B-Shaun Kort(5/11) each hit two home runs in a different game in the Sac State series...3B-Jason Rodriguez is second in hitting(.391) and on base %(.486) in the WAC and in total ranks in the top 10 in 7 offensive categories in the conference...Rodriguez was named WAC Player of the Week for the second time this season after hitting .571(9-for-13) with 3 walks, 3 doubles, a home run and 9RBI vs. Fresno State(4/25-27)...1B-Shaun Kort drove in a career-high 6 in the final game of the Sac State series with 3 coming on his walk-off home run in the 9th...SS-Kevin Rodland has the team’s longest active hit streak at 6-games which his career-high and his hitting .471 (8-for-17) with 5 runs and 3 doubles during the streak...Rodland is hitting .302(13-for-43) with 11 runs scored, 4RBI, 5 doubles and a home run the last 14 games collecting hits in 11 of those contests after going 0-for-29 the previous 9 plus games...Rodriguez’ 26 multi hit games is tied for second in the WAC while Sadoian’s 22 is tied for 11th...Jaquez hit a 3-run homer in the bottom of the 8th of game 2 vs. Fresno State to give Nevada a 4-1 victory and C-Travis Simas hit a 3-run homer in the bottom of the 8th of game 4 to give the Pack a 12-11 win...Jaquez’ 3-run homer in the first game of the doubleheader vs. FS(4/26) and RF-Mike Hale’s 3-for-3 performance in game two earned them CBS College Sports Network Player of the Game honors in the nationally televised doubleheader...Sadoian collected hits in 7 consecutive at bats vs. Fresno State(4/25-27), the final 3 at bats in game 3 and the first 4 in game 4 then scored 5 runs in those 7 hits...Sadoian vs. Fresno State(4/27) and Bowman vs. CSUMB(3/4) and vs. Sac State(5/11) have hit 3 doubles in game this season which is the most by any player in the WAC this season...Ciarlo, Kort and Rodriguez were named the WAC Hitters of the Week three consecutive weeks from Feb. 25 to Mar. 16...Rodriguez hit .375(21-for-56) with 9 runs scored, 14RBI, 8 doubles and a home run during a team season and career-high 14-game hit streak that ended in the final game at Hawai`i(4/20)...Rodriguez’ 14-game hit streak is tied for the 8th longest in the WAC this season...IF-Brian Lloyd made the first 3 starts of his Pack career at second base the final 3 games of the SJSU series last weekend...IF-Nick Leid had started 7 games at second base for an injured David Ciarlo until Lloyd took over...Ciarlo was hit in the face with a pitch in game 2 at La Tech and was taken to the hospital by ambulance but xrays were negative...Ciarlo injured his ankle trying to get out of the way of the pitch and has missed the last 10 games and his status for the WAC Tournament is unkown...RF-Mike Hale drove in a career-high 5 in the final game vs. NMSU(4/6) with 4 coming on his two, 2-run homers...Hale’s 7 home runs is second on the team to Rodriguez’ 8...Rodriguez, DH-Terry Walsh, Hale, Kort, Jaquez and Sadoian have hit 2 home runs in a game this season...Ciarlo had started 88 consecutive games at second base and played in 113 in a row until missing game 2 of the La Tech(3/21) series due to illness...Kort(1B) and Rodriguez(3B) have started all 55 games at the same position...Jaquez(30) and Simas(24) have split most of the catching duties for the Pack this season with freshman Matt Langenfeld starting the other game...Bowman hit an inside the park home run vs. Utah Valley in game 4 that scored 2 runs after the left fielder ran into the wall trying to make the catch...Bowman also supplied all the offense with his solo home run leading off the 4th inning in the Pack’s 1-0 victory over Utah Valley in the series opener...Kort leads the team with 14 multi RBI games which is tied for 7th in the WAC...Nevada pinch hitters are hitting .225(16-for-71) with 10 runs scored, a double, a home run and 11RBI...Leid drove in 7 runs in game 1 vs. CSUMB which is tied for the most by any player in the WAC this season...Bowman and Kort each had 5 hits in game 1 vs. CSUMB which is tied for the high by any player in the WAC this season and their career highs.

ON THE MOUND:  RHP-Kyle Howe(8-2) pitched his WAC leading 5th complete game at SJSU last weekend but was on the short end of a 2-0 loss...Howe’s 8 wins is tied for first in the WAC and 6 wins in WAC play leads the league...RHP-Derek Achelpohl pitched 8.2 shutout innings allowing 6 hits and struck out 5 in the final game at La Tech(5/4) as the Pack won 2-0 which earned him WAC Pitcher of the Week honors...In two appearances vs. La Tech this season Achelpohl is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA, 13 strikeouts and just 2 walks in 15 innings...LHP-Chris Garcia earned his first two saves of the season at La Tech pitching 1.2 shutout innings in game 2 and struck out the only batter he faced to end game 4...Garcia and RHP-Mario Rivera are tied for the team lead with 2 saves...Howe was the first Pack hurler to earn WAC Pitcher of the Week honors after allowing 1 run on 7 hits with 5 strikeouts tossing a complete game gem in a 4-1 win over WAC Champion Fresno State(4/26)...Howe’s 3.55ERA is 5th in the WAC, .232 opponent batting average ranks third and 74.1 innings pitched is 9th...RHP-Rod Scurry(5-7) made his first career relief appearance in the final game of the Fresno State(4/27) series and retired the side in the 9th to earn the save after suffering the loss as the Friday night starter...Scurry pitched the first complete game of his career and first 1-0 shutout in Peccole Park history as the Pack defeated Utah Valley(4/11) in the first game of the series allowing 4 hits and struck out 6...Scurry ranks in the top 10 in five pitching categories in the WAC...Scurry and Howe tossed back-to-back complete games in the first two games of the UVU series...RHP-Sammy Miller(2-0) pitched 6.1 innings of 2 hit shutout relief with a career-high 4 strikeouts in game 3 vs. Fresno State to earn his second win of the season...LHP-Brock Stassi(3-2) has lost his last two starts and the Pack are 6-2 when he starts a game...Rivera(2-1) retired all six hitters he faced in game 3 at Hawai`i(4/19) striking out three to earn his second save of the season...Rivera’s 7 career saves is tied for 9th most in Pack history...Stassi won his first two career starts in the same week vs. UNLV and NMSU...RHP-Dan Eastman had been in the rotation 3 weekends but has been moved to the bullpen...Achelpohl pitched 6.1 innings of 6 hit, 8 strikeout relief vs. La Tech(3/22) to earn his first win at Nevada...Achelpohl pitched 3 shutout innings with 5 strikeouts vs. Utah Valley to earn his first save at Nevada and has split time between the rotation and bullpen...8 Pack pitchers RHP-Bryan Suarez(2ip), Miller(1ip), LHP-Jacob Kaup(1ip), Achelpohl(1ip), Stassi(1ip), Eastham(1ip), RHP-Ryan Iodence(1ip) and RHP-Ben Colton(1ip) combined to allow just 5 hits in a 10-0 shutout of Pacific(3/18)...Eastham(4ip), Iodence(1ip), Miller(1ip) and Stassi(1ip) combined earlier in the season to shutout CSUMB 16-0 in the second game of a doubleheader back on Mar. 4...Scurry, Stassi, Achelpohl and Miller each have one save on the season...Miller leads the team with 18 appearances...after making 6 starts to begin the season Garcia has been moved to the bullpen where he has earned 2 wins and 2 saves...Eastham got the first win of his career tossing 4 shutout innings in his start vs. CSUMB and was the first starter to earn a win this season.

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