The Hofstra Pride baseball team fell twice to the Wolfpack of the University of Nevada, Reno in a doubleheader at Don Weir Field at Peccole Park in Reno, Nevada, on Friday, March 3. They lost the first game in a close contest, 4-3, before dropping the latter 15-6. With two losses, the Pride dropped to 3-6 on the season and remains winless on the road.

In the first of two meetings, Nevada jumped to a 3-0 lead at the bottom of the second inning with run-scoring hits off the bats of Jeff Bauser and Mason Hirata, respectively. One inning later, the Wolf Pack extended their lead as Henry Strmecki doubled to left center before scoring on a Jaxon Woodhouse single.

The Pride began to mount a comeback in the fourth inning. With bases loaded, a wild pitch allowed Will Kennedy to score and put Hofstra on the board. Hofstra started to find some consistency as Brian Morrell and Kevin Bruggeman also scored thanks to sacrifice flies from Steve Harrington and Jake Liberatore, respectively, bringing the Nevada lead to just one point.

The closest Hofstra came to tying the game was in the bottom of the sixth when Dylan Palmer was picked off at third base. The Pride ended up losing 4-3 in a seven-inning contest.

The second game was more definitive from Nevada. They scored four runs in back-to-back innings to take a commanding lead and managed to put up 15 runs by the end of the sixth inning. Hirata recorded three hits, while Bauser, Taylor Holder and Michael Ball each had two. Matt Clayton was the only player on either side to hit a home run in the second game as he homered to left field with a man on second base to increase the lead to seven at the bottom of the fifth.

The surge from the Wolf Pack arrived not too long after Hofstra got off to a decent start, taking a 3-0 lead by the end of the second inning. Palmer finished with two runs while Ryan Morash picked up a run and collected two hits. Pitching was an issue for the Pride as they allowed nine walks. Danny Kelleher allowed the most with four. However, Carlos Martinez gave up the most hits, five, while allowing four runs, all of which were within a span of two innings.

With a disappointing start to the series, the Pride will attempt to rebound in their next two games against Nevada, one of which will be played on Saturday, March 4, with the opening pitch scheduled for 11:05 a.m. PST. They’ll look to shape up with only one week remaining before they face off against their first Colonial Athletic Association opponent of the regular season.

Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics