It’s not every day where you get to see a team live up to the expectations of the conference and potentially win the Mountain West regular season title. And Nevada did just that…nearly.
Even with their former head coach Jake McKinley leaving to take a job on the Seattle Mariners coaching staff two and a half months before the season started, the Wolf Pack did well for the majority of the 2026 season. Being swept by Ole Miss wasn’t a good start, but they picked it up from there, and won the majority of their non-conference
games for the rest of the season. The Pack opened conference play with a solid sweep of Fresno State, and bounced back after losing to Air Force on home turf, not losing another conference series for the rest of the month.
However, after their Silver State Series win at home against UNLV, everything fell apart for the Wolf Pack. Nevada went on to lose nine of their next 10 games, including being swept by both San Diego State (basically handing the Aztecs the conference title) and No. 18 USC in back-to-back series, then closing the regular season with a home conference loss to new member GCU. The burning finally stopped in the conference tournament with the house completely turned to ash, losing to New Mexico in the opening round of the Mountain West tournament. A complete collapse.
Record: Nevada finished with a 24-27 overall record and 13-11 conference record. The Pack finished fourth in the conference standings and ended their season by losing to New Mexico in the opening round of the conference tournament 4-13.
Highlight: Beating UNLV 9-1 on April 26 – While there were a good amount of high moments, there were none quite like Nevada clinching the in-state rivalry in a year that was barren for the Pack. With a mercy rule win two days prior and just barely missing the comeback win the day before, Nevada desperately needed to win the series in order to stay around the top of the conference standings. And they did just that.
Nevada outfielder Jackson Waller got things started in the second inning with an RBI double. From there, the Pack started cooking with gas, as catcher Jake Hervey and outfielder Jacob Doyle both hit three-run home runs in the fourth and fifth respectively, UNLV did put up some fight after two-way player Jacie Dobie smacked a home run in the sixth, as Rebels outfielder Reggie Bussey hit an RBI double in the seventh, preventing Nevada from skunking them. But, that fight was quickly shut down, as infielder Junhyuk Kwon smashed a solo shot to right field. Pitchers Alessandro Castro and Dominic Desch kept things calm on the mound, solidifying a dominant win.
This game was a gem overall, and helped the Wolf Pack not be completely skunked in the Silver State Series (they lost it in nearly every sport outside of men’s basketball (split), women’s cross country, women’s indoor and outdoor track and field). On top of helping the program get more than 11 points in the series, the Nevada baseball team kept themselves in the running for a top seed in the conference tournament, sitting in the top two heading into the final three weeks of the season. It was a joyous day at Peccole Park, and was basically their last of the season.
Lowlight: Losing to Sacramento State 7-13 on April 28, sounding the alarms – Ironic that one of the worst stretches of games in the Wolf Pack’s history on the diamond kicked off two days after their highlight, but that’s how it works sometimes. After clinching the Silver State Series win in baseball, the Wolf Pack hosted future MAC member Sacramento State in their final non-conference home game of the year, looking to gain more momentum before playing SDSU.
The exact opposite happened for Nevada, as the program was crushed. Pitcher Mahiro Tomita got shelled off the rip, giving up five runs (four earned) in two and a third innings pitched. From there, it was chaos for the Pack, as they gave up at least one run in four of the last six innings, including three a piece in the fourth and eighth innings. The bats were somewhat present, the Wolf Pack did get within two runs after putting up a four-spot in the fifth. However, the Pack was shut out for the rest of the game, leaving five runners on base before the end of the game.
Nevada’s lowlight isn’t necessarily the farthest it fell, but it was the beginning of the end. After that loss, the Wolf Pack went on to win only one regular season game of their last nine, including the aforementioned sweeps by SDSU and USC. The only win the Wolf Pack had in this span was a 13-9 win against GCU, which barely kept them in fourth heading into the conference tournament. It was a sign of what was to come for the Pack, which was a dramatic downfall that left the community speechless.
Key stat: -50 – Continuing the trend of harking on the losing streak, Nevada’s run differential in their final 10 regular season games of the season was -50, one of the worst stretches for the Pack. To put into perspective how bad that is, in their previous 10 games between April 11-26, the Wolf Pack had a +12 run differential, and that included two bad losses to Saint Mary’s (-12) and a six run loss to San Jose State. This shows that while they weren’t perfect to begin with, the Pack’s roster completely imploded both in the batter’s box and on the mound, leading to their demise in May.
Season grade: C+ – Starting the season with trials and tribulations is never a good thing, but the Pack were able to put together a great run through the end of March and April that had everyone thinking we were going to see a solo repeat regular season champion for the first time since former conference member TCU did from 2006-11 (New Mexico did repeat between 2012-14, but had to share in 2012 and 2014). But, a historic downfall cursed the Pack to be a first round exit rather than a champion. There will be a lot of questions head coach Jordan Getzelman and Nevada will have to answer, with players like sophomore infielder Sean Yamaguchi already declaring to enter the transfer portal and the need of a new pitching coach. If they can answer the call, the Pack will still be a contender in the new Mountain West. If not, then Wolf Pack fans will need to buckle up for a REALLY bumpy ride.
