After waiting exactly three years between Mountain West championships, the Nevada athletic department has clinched its second title in the last 15 days.

The Wolf Pack baseball team earned at least a share of the MW regular-season championship Friday night when it beat San Jose State, 12-0, after breaking open a scoreless game with a six-run sixth inning. That gave Nevada a one-game lead over Fresno State with just one regular-season game remaining. Nevada could clinch an outright title with a win over SJSU on Saturday afternoon or Fresno State loss at New Mexico.

This marks the fourth MW regular-season title in Nevada baseball history and its seventh in any conference. It is the first for head coach Jake McKinley, who is in his third season in the program. The Wolf Pack also won MW titles in 2015, 2018 and 2021, the first coming under Jay Johnson and the next two under TJ Bruce. Nevada also won Big West titles in 1994 and 2000 and a WAC championship in 2012.

The Wolf Pack enters Saturday’s game against San Jose State at 33-20 overall and 19-10 in the MW. The Wolf Pack started 1-3 in conference but took control of the conference with a three-game home sweep of Fresno State from May 2-4 after entering that series three games behind the Bulldogs. Nevada has won nine of its last 10 league games sparked by a 10-run comeback at Air Force on April 26.

Baseball joins Wolf Pack softball in winning MW regular-season titles this season. Prior to that, Nevada athletics had not won a MW championship since May 1, 2022 when the men’s tennis team won the conference tournament.

This year’s Wolf Pack baseball team has been led by an offense that is hitting .295 while averaging 7.4 runs per game. Among Nevada’s standouts have been Billy Ham (.351, seven homers); Junhyuk Kwon (.346, eight homers); Jayce Dobie (.335, seen homers); Sean Yamaguchi (.323, 13 homers); Jake Harvey (.314); Michael Ball (.302, 11 homers); Taylor Holder (.277, nine homers); Jackson Waller (.269, five homers); and Jacob Doyle (.254, 12 homers).

Casey Burfield (4-2, 4.30 ERA), Peyton Fosher (5-4, 5.78 ERA) and Alessandro Castro (4-3, 5.83 ERA) have been stalwarts in the starting rotation with Dominic Desch (6-1, 3.97 ERA) and Ethan O’Neal (5.01 ERA, eight saves) being the bullpen aces.

After the regular-season ends, Nevada will head to the MW Tournament where the conference’s NCAA Tournament participant will be determined. The MW is sure to be a one-bid league, meaning whoever wins the conference tournament will get the MW’s spot in an NCAA Regional. Nevada has never won a conference baseball tournament in 18 tries, but the Wolf Pack will take the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye into the six-team double-elimination event. The tournament opens Wednesday with two play-in games with the Wolf Pack’s first contest Thursday. The tournament will be played at Sloan Park in Mesa, Ariz.

Nevada has played in five NCAA Tournaments in its history, including in 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000 and 2021. It is 5-10 in those regionals.