Nevada knocks off reigning champs 8-7 in extras

Against the defending national champions on Monday night, Nevada (22-18) clawed its way to a dramatic 8-7 walkoff win in the 12th inning over No. 2 ranked Oregon State (28-9-1). It was the first time Nevada won against a top-10 team since defeating No. 6 ranked Clemson 7-5 in 2017.

Grant Ford (3-1) earned the win after pitching two innings, allowing no hits and striking out four Beavers. Bradley Bonnenfant pitched a career-high four innings in relief and racked up eight strikeouts from the seventh to the 10th inning.

Nevada struck out Oregon State 20 times, the most the Beavers have ever been punched out in a contest in school history.

The Beavers began the contest with a two-run shot to right-center to take a two-run advantage after the first half of play. The Wolf Pack responded in the home half of the inning with an RBI-double by Matt Clayton that scored Weston Hatten.

The offense stayed hot for Nevada in the second frame, as the Pack plated four runs thanks in large part to a two-run shot by Hatten to give Nevada a 5-2 lead after two frames. Oregon State battled back in the third to make it a one-run game, but one of Keaton Smith’s three hits on the day knocked in Clayton to give the Pack a 6-4 cushion.

A couple more runs scored by each team, specifically an Oregon State two-run rally in the sixth, tied the game at 7. Neither team would score again until Nevada walked off in the 12th.

In the eighth and ninth innings, Bonnenfant struck out the side in back to back innings to send the contest to extras, walking just one batter. With runners on first and second and nobody out in the 11th, Ford relieved Bonnenfant and got Nevada out of the jam with three straight strikeouts.

Another perfect inning from Ford in the 12th set Nevada up to walk off on the defending champs. Clayton drew a leadoff walk, and a Tyler Bosetti single put two runners on with nobody out. Daniel Perry pinch ran for Clayton at second, and Nick Seamons came up to bat with the chance to win the game.

Seamons bunted and successfully moved Perry to third, but the throw to the third baseman was wild and Perry scampered home to give Nevada the epic 8-7 win. With the victory, Nevada avenged two extra-inning walk off losses at OSU in 2018.

Tomorrow’s contest against the Beavers will be at 12 p.m., with John Ramey on the call on 94.1 FM/1450 AM and will be broadcast live on the Mountain West Network. Tickets are available online or by calling (775) 348-PACK.