Powers gets 700th win for Nevada baseball

RENO - It was an emotional and record-setting day for the Nevada baseball program.

The Wolf Pack, thanks to two homers apiece by juniors Shawn Scobee and Ben Mummy and a career-high five RBI and five hits by catcher Bake Krukow, celebrated Senior Day with a 20-7 win over Fresno State Sunday at Peccole Park.

The victory gave Nevada its first home sweep of the Western Athletic Conference season after three previous failures and was win No. 700 in head coach Gary Powers' illustrious 23-year career. It also sent seniors Carlos Madrid, Eric Newman, Clint Kofmehl, Jacob Butler, Adam Colton and Derek McNeil out on a winning note.

Powers becomes the 40th Division I coach in NCAA history to reach 700 career wins. Two other coaches - USC's Mike Gillespie and Georgia Tech's Danny Hall also reached the 700 mark this year.

"Today was a great day for a lot of reasons," Powers said. "We have so many guys leaving and winning three games against a team as hot as Fresno State. It says a lot about the pride and character of this team.

"That (700 wins) is a program award. I've been blessed with a lot of quality players and quality assistant coaches. We couldn't have accomplished anything without them. I'm proud of every player I've coached and every coach I've worked with."

Powers got doused with some liquid refreshment after coming down to the field following his post-game radio show. More than one player said the veteran coach was grinning ear to ear late in the game as the Pack nailed down the win.

And, as he has done all week, he directed the talk toward his team. He admitted the Wolf Pack (26-27) didn't accomplish what they wanted to during the season, but he liked the way they finished up.

"The kids had good focus," Powers said. "We'd been in this situation three other times and hadn't accomplished the sweep. I think they were ready to play. They wanted to win."

And, the Pack did exactly that, thanks to some prolific performances by the aforementioned underclassmen.

Nevada scored six runs in the first inning to take a 6-1 lead, as consecutive homers by Mummy, Scobee and Krukow jump-started the offense. Mummy's was a three-run shot, and Scobee and Krukow followed with solo shots off starter-loser Gil Infante.

The Pack added four more runs in the second to make it 10-1. They were aided by two errors by three Fresno State errors, a two-run double by Krukow and a run-scoring triple by Newman.

"Everything went our way today," said Mummy, who has a chance to be drafted next week in the annual amateur draft. "We got all the breaks. The guys deserved it.

"That (not talking about the 700th win) is probably why we got it. We won Friday. We won Saturday. After the first inning we knew this game was ours. We set the tone early."

n Darrell Moody can be reached at dmoody@nevadaappeal.com, or by calling (775) 881-1281