Courtesy of Nevada Athletics
BERKELEY, Calif. – Casey Burfield tossed five innings of one-hit ball, and the Wolf Pack got early home runs from Sean Yamaguchi and Michael Ball to cruise to its first win of 2025, a 10-1 decision at California.
Nevada (1-2) has a chance to earn a split of the season-opening four-game series in Monday’s 2 p.m. finale.
Sunday, Nevada jumped on the Golden Bears (2-1) with four runs in the third after the teams played through a scoreless opening two frames. With two on and two out, Jayce Dobie opened the scoring with an RBI single to center to score Billy Ham, setting up Yamaguchi’s first collegiate home run, as the freshman sliced a three-run shot the opposite way to right for the 4-0 lead.
Yamaguchi paced seven Wolf Pack starters with at least one hit Sunday, going 3-for-5 with three RBIs and two runs scored.
Nevada would go on to score in four-straight innings to put Cal into a deeper hole. The bats came through with two outs again in the fourth, as Ball sent a Logan Piper 3-1 offering high and deep to left for a two-run shot, upping the Wolf Pack lead to 6-0.
That was more than enough support for Burfield, who won his first start of the season by going five scoreless, striking out one and giving up just one hit, that coming on Cade Campbell’s two-out single in the fifth.
Cal starter Oliver de la Torre took the loss, giving up four runs on three hits and two walks over two and two-thirds innings.
The Wolf Pack would take advantage of an errant Cal bullpen late, scoring a pair of runs on wild pitches along with a bases-loaded walk from Jackson Waller to make it 9-0. After Cal got its only run on Campbell’s RBI single in the seventh, Jack Metcho, 1-for-3 with two walks and two runs scored in his first Nevada start, got it back with an RBI single in the ninth.
Three Wolf Pack relievers combined to go the final four innings, with Daiel Tovar ad Ethan O’Neal each striking out two.
