SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- Nevada baseball was held hitless until the seventh inning when
Anthony Flores hit a solo home run to get on the board but the comeback was silenced as UC Santa Barbara held on to win the opener of three-game series 4-1 in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Nevada falls to 2-3 overall with the loss and No. 20 UC Santa Barbara improves to 4-1 overall with the win. The Pack has lost three straight games and looks to bounce back tomorrow during Game 2 of a three-game series. The first pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.
Anthony Flores was the lone bright spot offensively for the Pack tonight after hitting his first home run of the season in the 7th inning. It marks the fifth home run of his career after slugging four home runs last season.
Flores recorded two of the teams' three hits, with
Tyler Bosetti adding one hit in four at-bats. The Pack finished with three hits in 30 at-bats and struck out 15 times with one RBI.
UCSB was led by starting pitcher Corey Lewis (W, 1-0), who struck out 11 over 6.0 innings with four walks. Reliever Michael Rice gave up the lone run after tossing 1.2 innings and surrendering a home run while allowing one walk and recording one strikeout. Ryan Harvey (S, 1) earned the save after fanning three batters over 1.1 innings.
The Pack received another good start from
Cam Walty (L, 0-1) despite taking the loss. Walty struck out six over 5.2 innings while allowing two earned runs on three hits.
Reliever
Russell Hicks was solid out of the bullpen, tossing 1.1 innings, fanning two, and walking one, while not giving up a run.
Casey Burfield worked the final 1.0 inning allowing one earned run (two total runs) as UC Santa Barbara scored two insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth to clinch a 4-1 win.
The Pack is back in action tomorrow in Game 2 of a three-game series at UC Santa Barbara. The first pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m., from Caesar Uyesaka Stadium.