Men’s Basketball beats New Mexico 77-76 in tight conference game

By Jalen Robinson

The Wolf Pack were on the road in Albuquerque, N.M. on Tuesday, Feb. 7 facing off against another in conference foe in the 19-4 New Mexico Lobos. Playing in another must-win game for both teams, the Wolf Pack looked to top the Lobos one more time for the series sweep of the season. As expected, it was a hard-fought battle between both teams with the score being 45-41 Wolf Pack advantage at halftime. For the Lobos, this was the epitome of a must win game.

Steve Alford, the Wolf Pack’s head coach, was previously New Mexico’s coach, and had their number since leaving the program, especially now being back in the Mountain West. The Wolf Pack squeaked out the much needed win with 77-76, but at the cost of three key players playing over 33 minutes in Will Baker, Nevada center, and Deron Williams and Jarod Lucas, Nevada guards. Sitting right under Nevada in third place, the Lobos looked to make the standings that much more complicated for all Wolf Pack fans. Being complicated wasn’t in the cards for Lucas. Lucas looked to solidify another conference win and put the Wolf Pack in sole possession of second place. He made a statement by scoring and tying his season high of 28 points while grabbing three rebounds.

Williams and Baker also made key contributions. Williams produced eight points, five rebounds and five assists. Baker scored 10 points while grabbing five rebounds as well. With the Mountain West tournament on the horizon, the Wolf Pack men’s basketball team prevails again but look to continue their hot streak until seasons end. The Pack face off against the Fresno State Bulldogs next at home. The Bulldogs are on a two-game winning streak although sitting close to the Jalen Robinson can be reached at draridon@unr.edu or on Twitter @ jalenrobinsonn.

Men’s basketball has had 13 road games this season. Of those games, the team lost seven of them, capping off their losing away record with a 71-80 loss versus the University of Wyoming Cowboys. For a team to be virtually unbeatable at home, it’s a strike in the heart to not compete as efficiently on the road. These losses, particularly those in the last five road games, were not statistically expected. In their last month of road games, Nevada played University of Nevada, Las Vegas, University of New Mexico, Utah State University, Fresno State University and Wyoming. Of these five, Nevada lost three of them, dropping to UNLV, Utah State and Wyoming. Adding salt to the wound is that two of these schools, UNLV and Wyoming, are both sitting seventh and eleventh, respectively, out of 11 teams in the conference, and both of these losses were by six or more points. The program’s recent losses aren’t coming from teams that are at the top of the conference, these are losses coming from the bottom of the Mountain West barrel. The men’s basketball team has not been safe from the premier conference teams either. Utah State, currently third in the conference, has already been brought up, but the program has also dropped games to San Diego State, first, and Boise State, second, on the road. And in both games, Nevada lost by nine and 15 points, respectfully. Is the men’s basketball team destined to get firstrounded out of the Mountain West conference tournament? Will they be unable to compete in the NCAA March Madness tournament? Not necessarily.

Despite their lackluster performances on the road, the men’s basketball team has still shown some promise during the season. And if San Diego State gets upset by either the eighth or ninth seed in the Mountain West conference tournament, Nevada would play against either Fresno State, Air Force, or Colorado State in the semifinals, which are all teams the program has gone undefeated against in the regular season. Plus, every game after Saturday will be played at a neutral site. Yes, the conference tournament will be played in Las Vegas, making Nevada public enemy number one while competing due to the in-state rivalry. But UNLV, the host team, will most likely not make it further than the semifinals as, at the time of writing, they will be facing teams that they have lost both home and away games to. And in their only neutral tournament, the Cayman Islands Classic, Nevada went 2-1, only losing to the Kansas State Wildcats, who sit at No. 11 at the time of writing. In order for the Wolf Pack men to truly be able to compete past March 4, they need to reciprocate their performance at the Cayman Islands Classic. The crowds will be pitted against them, especially as they start to grow and become more rowdy and energetic as the Pack begins their postseason run. The Nevada men will have to look past this and become the team that contended with K-State, that beat Tulane and Akron once more to truly take on the expectations set by their play this season. So, it’s not that all hope is lost and everyone should turn against the Wolf Pack. However, if trends continue the way they have been and no change occurs, the home dominant men’s basketball team may not fulfill the hype that they have accumulated.

Opinions expressed by Derek Raridon are solely those of the author and do not necessarily express the views of The Sagebrush or its staff. Derek Raridon is a student at the University of Nevada studying journalism. He can be reached at draridon@sagebrush.unr.edu and on Twitter @ NevadaSagebrush.

Nevada women drop to San Diego State 67-51 in Thursday night shutout

By Jalen Robinson

Like the men’s team last week at home, the Nevada women’s basketball team looked to replicate the same level of dominance over the San Diego State Aztecs at home on Feb. 9.

Looking to continue on a high note after winning their second away victory of the year against the Utah State Aggies, the Pack went into Thursday looking for their third set of back-to-back wins.

Unfortunately, the Pack did not capitalize at home and lost to the Aztecs 67-51. From the tip, the Wolf Pack’s offense shots were not falling like the previous games. The weak offense was mainly due to one of their top scorers Audrey Roden, Nevada guard, being out because of suspension. Trailing 39-22 at the half, the Pack tried to pick up the slack with one of their top players b, Alyssa Gimenez, Nevada guard. Gimenez went for a team-high 13 points with three rebounds, two steals and one assist while also going 9-9 from free throws. Adding on was Victoria Davis, Nevada point guard, who went for 12 points, two rebounds and two steals while also going 6-6 for free throws.

With a tough loss at home that now makes the Pack 9-15 overall and stoops under .500 in the conference at five games left on the women’s basketball team’s schedule, the Pack still look to finish their season on a high note. Looking to not only win out their remaining conference games but to also finish above .500 in conference play.

The Wolf Pack Women’s back their next

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In game two of the series, the Pack looked to bounce back with their new member of the squad, Jason Doktorcyk, a sophomore starting pitcher transfer from Sonoma State. The Wolf Pack got off to a great start behind great pitching. Doktorcyk went four shutout innings while having two runs for support, Pack was up going into the fifth inning once again.

Although in the bottom half of the fifth inning, the Wildcats put up a crooked number of four runs, now taking them into the sixth inning 4-2. The Wildcats would snag another insurance run to go up 5-2 in the bottom half of the seventh inning as the Pack bats continued to be non-existent in the middle innings. Finally, in the top half of the ninth inning, the Pack put across two runs, but it was too late. The Wildcats recorded the last out of the game before the Pack could complete the comeback. Nevada was down in the series 0-2 after losing back-to-back games.

Looking to win game three and not lose the opening series on the road with their new coach, the Pack look for a mustneeded win. Now with returning junior Cadey Burfield, Starting Pitcher, taking the mound, the Pack looked to get back on track and put some runs on the board early. Unfortunately after a scoreless first inning on both sides, the Wildcats struck first with one run on the board in the bottom half of the second inning. The Pack would answer in the top half of the third with a clutch double from Nolan Wilson, Catcher, and a three-run homerun from Derek Tenney, Infielder. would put the Pack up by three, now leading the Wildcats 4-1 in the bottom half of the third.

The Pack were down going into the second inning but responded by getting one back from a Henry Strmecki, Outfielder, home run, his first of the season. Coach Mckinley would then put in Easton Marks, Right Handed Pitcher, to pitch, but would also be a one-inning outing for him after giving up four runs on three hits.

The Pack trailed the Wildcats 6-1 going into the third inning. Neither team would scratch any runs across for the next four innings, getting into a pitcher dual as Alejandro Murillo, Right Handed Pitcher, would shut it down with two punch outs on two hits through two innings. Followed by Michael Sarhatt, Nevada Right Handed Pitcher, pitching four innings, striking out two while only giving up one run off one hit in the bottom of the eighth. However, Sarhatt was unable to receive much run support from the rest of the Pack, only getting two runs in the top of the seventh. Nevada was unable to scratch any more runs across before the final pitch was thrown, ending the finale of the four-game series Abilene Christian 7, Nevada 3.

Although losing the opening series of the Coach McKinely era the Pack looks to bounce back at home and get their first series win under Mckinley’s regime. The Pack takes on a stout Cal Baptist team at home this weekend who are just coming off a tough road trip against two Big-12 Oklahoma teams on the road.

The Pack takes on the California Baptist Lancers for a threegame series on February 25 and 26 with a doubleheader included after some games were postponed due to weather.

Jalen Robinson can be reached at draridon@unr.edu or on Twitter @NevadaSagebrush.

Nevada Softball goes undefeated in Winthrop Eagle Classic

By Dominic Gutierrez

The Nevada Wolf Pack Softball team dominated in their weekend series at the Winthrop Eagle Classic. After beating the Marist College Red Foxes 6-0 on Sunday, the Wolf Pack ended the weekend with a 5-0 sweep.

The Winthrop Tournament began on Friday with a doubleheader for the Pack. Blake Craft, Nevada starting pitcher, led the Pack to an 8-0 victory against Queens University of Charlotte in game one. The mercy rule kicked in, as Craft pitched all five innings, striking out seven while only allowing one hit.

Outfielder Gabby Herrera got the Pack on the board in the first with an RBI double. The offense exploded in the second inning with some help from the Queens’ defense. After Chelie Senini, Nevada center fielder, hit an RBI single, the Wolf Pack capitalized off an error to score two more. Charli Hawkins, Nevada catcher, then hit a two-run double to give the Pack a five-run second inning. They went on to score two more in the fourth, which led to the 8-0 victory.

In game two, the Wolf Pack dominated once again, this time against North Carolina A&T State. Carley Brown, Nevada starting pitcher, started the second game, giving up five hits, two runs, and eight strikeouts in the 10-2 win over the Aggies.

After the Aggies took a 1-0 lead in the first, the Pack took over in the second inning. The team scored three runs off of errors by the Aggies to take the lead. The third inning was no different, as the Pack scored three more to extend their lead to 6-1. Maile Olsen, Nevada second baseman, also stole home to contribute to the three-run third inning. As a team, Nevada tied the single-game record of nine stolen bases. Hawkins came up big once again, hitting a two-run homer in the fourth. The game was called in the fifth after a Haylee Engelbrecht RBI single to close out the 10-2 victory.

The Wolf Pack played another doubleheader on Saturday in some low-scoring affairs. Game one was a tight 2-0 victory against the Red Foxes. Tyra Clary, Nevada starting pitcher, threw a complete game shutout against Marist College, limiting them to three hits with nine strikeouts.

Aaliyah Jenkins, Nevada designated hitter, scored the only two runs for Nevada via a two-run home run in the sixth. The speed continued to be a factor as well, as Senini, Madison Clark, Nevada left fielder, and Bradianne Glover, Nevada pinch runner all recorded a stolen base. Game two was another close game led by Craft. She threw her second complete-game shutout of the tournament, giving up three hits and striking out nine against the hosting Winthrop University Eagles.

Herrera was the lone scorer for the Pack, hitting an RBI double in the first inning. Hawkins and Clark tallied two hits each, and Senini added two more stolen bases to her season.

To close out the weekend, the Pack once again shut out the Red Foxes on Sunday. Brown flirted with perfection, retiring the first 11 Red Fox batters she faced. The perfect game was lost in the fourth, but Brown went on to only give up two more hits in the 6-0 shutout victory.

The Pack’s offense was more alive this game, with Engelbrecht hitting an RBI single in the first. The team would go on to score a run in each of the final four innings, ending with a Charli McLendon pinch hit solo homer in the seventh. With the 5-0 weekend sweep, the Pack moved to a 9-1 record to start the year.

The Pack will head to the Bay Area to compete in the Stanford Tournament on February 24-26. They’re set to Dominic Gutierrez can be reached at draridon@unr.edu or on Twitter @NevadaSagebrush.