The Nevada Wolf Pack baseball team has hired former UNLV Rebel assistant Matt Fonteno to fill out its staff for the 2013 season.
Fonteno, who was officially hired on Monday, replaces Ryan Overland, who left the program in late December to return to Fresno State.
"We were very fortunate to be able to find a guy with his experience at this stage of the year," Pack coach Gary Powers said on Thursday. "And his experience falls in line with all of the things we need."
Fonteno coached three years at UNLV (2005-08) under then head coach Buddy Gouldsmith. Gouldsmith is now in his third year as a Wolf Pack assistant coach. Fonteno also coached the past four years (2008-12) at Chico State. His coaching career began at Cal Lutheran (2002-05).
"He can coach first base, which is what we need, he can work with our outfielders and he's done a lot of recruiting," Powers said. "And to top it off he throws left-handed batting practice, which is huge for us. He's a great fit for us."
Overland, a former Fresno State player and volunteer coach, spent the entire fall with the Wolf Pack. Overland, a catcher, was a member of the Bulldogs' 2008 College World Series championship team.
"When we hired him (Fresno state coach Mike Batesole) told me, 'Just so you know, if I ever get an opportunity to hire him on here (Fresno State) full-time, I'm going to go after him,'" Powers said. "So we knew that was a possibility that he'd go back there someday. But I don't think he (Batesole) thought it would be in four months."
Fonteno also has ties to another former Wolf Pack assistant coach. Chris Pfatenhauer, who spent the past three years on Powers staff, left the Nevada program in August to become the head coach at Dixie State College in St. George, Utah. Pfatenhauer and Fonteno were both at Chico State in 2008 and 2009.
The Wolf Pack finished 32-25 last season and finished first in the regular season in the Western Athletic Conference. The Pack, which began practicing at Peccole Park on Tuesday, opens its season Feb. 15-18 in Mesa, Ariz., with four games against the Kansas Jayhawks.
