After starting the 2024 season with 14 straight road games, Nevada baseball will host its home opener Friday at Peccole Park.
The Wolf Pack enters a three-game set against New Mexico at 6-8 overall but 2-1 in the Mountain West after winning its conference-opening series against the Aztecs last weekend. Nevada opened the season 4-1 before losing its next six non-league games before the three-game set at San Diego State. It most recently played at UC San Diego, losing 7-6 on Monday.
Despite his team being under .500, head coach Jake McKinley is happy with the insight he gained on his team in non-conference.
“We’ve played a relatively difficult schedule,” McKinley said. “Some of the teams we’ve played are having really good years. But I think it’s been a good opportunity for us to see who is optimally put in what spot, what is the best chance for us to win as it relates to the rotation and bullpen. Position player-wise, what lineups give us the best chance to win. I think that’s what non-conference play is about. We saw it a little bit last weekend at San Diego State. Some guys came up with some big spots , and I think you gather that information in non-conference play.”
Nevada has outscored its opponents 85-74 while averaging 6.07 runs per game, which ranks fourth out of seven MW teams. The Wolf Pack’s 4.95 ERA is second in the league, which is usually known for its high scoring.
Jason Doktorczyk has emerged as the Wolf Pack’s ace and Friday starter after posting a 2-1 record and 3.42 ERA in four starts. He’s struck out 24 batters in 23.2 innings, holding opponents to 19 hits. LSU transfer Theo Millas (1-0, 1.38 ERA) and Angelina College transfer Peyton Fosher (1-1, 4.43 ERA) have also performed well in starting roles.
“It’s going good,” Doktorczyk said of the start to the season. “I think I’ve improved on a lot of things I need to improve on. And I think we’re at a good spot as a team right now. I think a lot of things haven’t gone our way so far, but I think we’re playing really good baseball going into conference.”
Nevada’s offense has been led by Jake Harvey (.378 BA, .959 OPS), Michael Ball (.352 BA, .929 OPS), Jesse Pierce (.347 BA, .917 OPS) and JR Freethy (.327 BA, . 955 OPS). The Wolf Pack battles a New Mexico team that swept UNLV in its conference-opening series last week before winning at Arizona State on Tuesday. The three-game series in Reno includes a Friday first pitch at 6:05 pm before a 2:05 pm start Saturday and a 12:05 pm start Sunday. The Wolf Pack, which finished last in the MW last season, went 2-4 against the Lobos in 2023.
“I think everybody’s excited,” McKinely said of playing at home. “We have not slept in our beds much in the last month, and we’ve been on a lot of airplanes, a lot of buses. To be at home is great, and it looks like weather-wise, we’re going to be in pretty good shape this weekend. It’s always nice to play at home, and we’ve missed it. Fourteen on the road to start is a little gritty, but we’re excited to be back.”
Nevada ranks 108th in the RPI, second in the MW behind only Air Force (87th). Only three MW teams have winning records, those being Fresno State (12-4), New Mexico (11-6) and UNLV (9-7).
“At the end of the day, it’s just about winning the series,” McKinley said of MW play. “I think the biggest thing for us is we just have to make sure we take care of the baseball from a defensive perspective. We make outs, outs. We make the routine plays on the pitching-side. We force them to swing the bats . No freebies. Then offensively, I think our at-bat quality has been really good for the last week. Hopefully, we carry that into the weekend. But I think what’s important, especially at this ballpark where it can turn into a hitter- friendly park at times, if we’re involved in a tight, low-scoring game, we have the personnel to kind of get through that. And then if it turns into a little bit of a higher-scoring game, we have the personnel to do that.”
