Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Nevada
Baseball Season Ends Against Nevada
5/27/2000 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 27, 2000
STANFORD, Calif. - Nevada scored in each of the first five innings en route to a 13-5 victory against Fresno State on Saturday in the NCAA Stanford Regional. The Bulldogs, who were eliminated from the tournament with the loss, saw their season end with a 40-21 overall record. The Wolf Pack improved to 38-18 and advanced to Saturday night's elimination game at Sunken Diamond between the Stanford/Alabama loser.
Nevada chased Fresno State starting pitcher Tom Graham (Sr., Modesto, Calif.) with four runs before the first inning came to an end. The Wolf Pack added two runs in the second and single tallies in the third, fourth and fifth to put the game out of reach. The Bulldogs scored a pair of runs in the third to pull within five but would not get any closer. Nevada added four insurance runs in the seventh, while the 'Dogs scored a run in their half of the seventh and two more in the eighth to complete the scoring.
"There isn't much to say after you have lost a game 13-5," Fresno State head coach Bob Bennett said. "We are out of the tournament and I feel badly about that. They played well today and we didn't."
Josh Labandeira (Jr., Porterville, Calif.) paced the offense by going 3-for-5 with a run scored and one RBI. It was his 20th multi-hit and eighth three-hit contest of the season. Anthony Acevedo (Sr., Bakersfield, Calif.) and Jason Papi (Sr., Fresno, Calif.) each added a pair of hits for the Bulldogs. Brandon Gemoll (So., San Jose, Calif.) hit his sixth home run of the season, a solo shot in the seventh inning.
Graham picked up the loss, allowing four runs on five hits in only two-thirds of an inning. The 6-foot-7 right-hander struck out two and finished his four-year career with 279 strikeouts, 11th all-time on Fresno State's career list. The three relievers who followed Graham combined to allow nine runs on 12 hits over the next six innings. Zach Minor (So., Walnut Creek, Calif.) held the Wolf Pack scoreless for 1.1 innings and J.J. Durmanich (Jr., Merced, Calif.) tossed a scoreless ninth and struck out two.
Darrell Rasner picked up the victory for Nevada. The freshman right-hander allowed a pair of runs on six hits in 5.2 innings pitched. Rasner walked six and struck out three in improving to 14-2 for the season. George Moran relieved Rasner in the sixth and allowed three runs (two earned) in 1.1 innings and Jay Kenny shut out the Bulldogs over the final two frames.
