The Nevada Wolf Pack flexed its muscles Friday afternoon but it still didn't make any difference against the Utah Valley Wolverines.
The Wolf Pack hit three home runs and jumped out to a 5-3 lead in the seventh inning but the Wolverines rallied for a 6-5 victory at Brent Brown Ballpark in Orem, Utah.
The Pack, which brought a four-game winning streak to Orem, is now 9-6 after losing the first two games of this three-game series. Utah Valley improved to 7-7.
Utah Valley jumped out to a 3-1 lead after three innings against Wolf Pack starter Bradey Shipley. The junior right-hander, though, settled down and didn't give up a run over his final 3.2 innings.
Shipley threw 132 pitches, giving up four runs (three earned) and eight hits and three walks while striking out 10. Shipley, though, left with the Pack up 5-4 and was in line for the victory.
The Wolverines, however, had other plans. Utah Valley scored twice in the bottom of the eighth to steal the victory.
Kade Andrus opened the eighth inning against Pack reliever Adam Whitt with a single and Whitt then hit Beau Kallas to put the tying and go-ahead runs on base with no outs. Willie Pratt then bunted Andrus and Kallas over to second and third.
Michael Fain replaced Whitt on the mound and a Fain pitch promptly got past Pack catcher Joe Setum for a passed ball as Andrus scored the tying run and Kallas advanced to third. Fain, normally the Pack's closer, then struck out Jordy Hart for the second out. Stone Ramsey, a freshman from Tampa, Fla., though, then hit a 1-0 Fain pitch for a single, driving in Kallas with the go-ahead run.
The Pack did get a runner on base in the ninth as pinch-hitter Tommy Niebergall reached on a Utah Valley error with one out. Wolverine pitcher Ryan Evans, though, got Jamison Rowe to pop out to second and Jay Anderson to fly out to center to end the game.
Evans (2-0) got the victory and Whitt (0-2) suffered the loss.
Rowe hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning to tie the game at 3-3. It was Rowe's first home run of the year and the fourth of his Pack career.
Austin Byler smacked a solo home run to right to give the Pack a 4-3 lead in the sixth. The homer was Byler's fourth of the season. Byler, who also had a triple and two singles and went 4-for-4, now has 18 RBI.
Hugo Hernandez hit the Pack's third home run of the game in the seventh, a leadoff blast to left field on an 0-2 pitch from Jeff Barto. The homer was Hernandez's first of the year and just his second of his Pack career.
The Pack made three errors for the second consecutive game. The six errors is the same amount the Pack made in its first 13 games. Second baseman Scott Kaplan has made two errors in each game after not committing an error in the Pack's first 13 games.
The Pack will try to salvage the final game of the series Saturday at 11 a.m.
