The Nevada Sagebrush

Hart’s blast keeps Pack in 1st

Tuesday, April 21, 2009 - 1:21 AM

A low, inside fastball morphed into a soaring home run Sunday as the Wolf Pack won 8-7 and split its four-game series with New Mexico State.

“(The hit) was on the sweet spot of the bat,”Nevada outfielder Brett Hart said of his game-winning home run. “When you hit it that well, you don’t even feel it.”

The Wolf Pack lost the middle games of the four-game series 9-6 and 5-3 after winning the series opener 11-5 on Thursday. Nevada (18-19, 7-4) moved back into first place after Hart’s three-run smash.

For Hart, the home run came in his first at-bat in six games.

His new role as a late-inning defensive replacement has forced him to see less time at the plate which has led to a dramatic drop in his hitting statistics.

“The toughest part of baseball is getting into slumps,”said Hart, who was three for his last 23 before hitting the home run. “You just got to keep on battling.”

Hart, who started the first 13 games of the season and batted .304 in that span, was relegated to the bench after Matt Bowman moved to right field because he didn’t feel comfortable playing second base, Nevada baseball head coach Gary Powers said.

“It’s not Brett’s fault,”Nevada hitting coach Gary McNamara said. “He didn’t do anything wrong. Given the circumstances, we needed to put Matt in right field. Arguably, (Bowman) is the best hitter in the conference so we had to keep him in the lineup.”

Hart battled by spending most of his time on the bench, the same place he sat the first seven innings on Sunday.

Hart entered the game as a defensive replacement with the Wolf Pack leading 4-1 in the eighth inning. The lead slipped away quickly, though, as back-to-back-to-back home runs bounced off Aggie bats. Nevada found itself trailing 7-4 after the dreadful inning ended.

“The dugout was pretty down, a little pissed off,”Nevada starting pitcher Derek Achelpohl said. “I was mad.”

Achelpohl cruised through the first seven innings of Sunday’s game, only allowing one earned run, but he was tagged for four runs in the eighth before getting pulled without recording an out in the inning.

“That was my fault,”Powers said. “We should have had someone going in the bullpen.”

Nevada reliever Dan Tinlin hurried to warm up and replace Achelpohl, but even he couldn’t stop the hot Aggie bats. New Mexico State struck for two solo home runs off Tinlin after getting a three-run shot from shortstop Bryan Marquez that led to Achelpohl’s exit.

“Dan wasn’t ready,”Powers said. “We tried to rush him into the game.”

Nevada got out of the inning with a double play but the damage was done: six runs and eight hits.

Hart came to the plate with two runners on base and one out with the Wolf Pack down 7-5 in Nevada’s half of the inning. The man who came in as a defensive replacement the inning before now had a chance to put the Wolf Pack back in the lead and secure a first place spot in the highly-contested Western Athletic Conference.

Hart received a fastball low and inside from New Mexico State pitcher Jake Wilson â€” it was exactly what he was looking for.

“I was so happy for him,”McNamara said. “As soon as he hit it I knew it was a special day. Brett has been working so hard and he really deserved it.”

Emerson Marcus can be reached at emarcus@nevadasagebrush.com.