That's a big 10-4

WICHITA -- The big innings, missing from the Nevada Griffons' offensive repertoire the day before, came at an opportune time in the wee hours this morning during a losers' bracket game of the National Baseball Congress World Series.

As the clock neared the stroke of midnight Tuesday night, Nevada began finding its stroke against Wichita's Midwest Wolverines. The Griffons broke a scoreless deadlock in the bottom of the fourth with four runs. They also added a single run in the sixth for a 5-0 lead, had to sweat things out in the top of the seventh when Wichita closed to 5-4 and then uncorked five more in the bottom of the inning for a 10-4 win at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium.

Greg Lagreid and Anthony Ottrando each went 2-for-4 -- including back-to-back doubles during the Griffons' decisive seventh -- and drove in three runs apiece.

Nevada advances to a Friday losers' bracket game against an undetermined team at an undisclosed time.

Nevada lost its first game of the national tournament on Monday, falling 6-1 to the Junction City (Kan.) Generals.

"I don't think anyone was thinking about going 0-2," Griffons head coach John Hill III said of his 1-1 team. "I think they were thinking about losing to high school kids. Whether they're talented or not or whether half of them have already signed to go to Kentucky or Wichita State or Kansas ... our guys didn't want to lose to high school kids.

"I told our guys before the game, 'They're cocky and arrogant and they've never had their teeth kicked in.' They're the best of the best (in Hap Dumont play), and we sure showed them that they're not in college yet." Wolverines pitcher Garrett Gould, a hard-throwing right-hander, challenged the Griffons early and often with his fastball, striking out four batters during the first three innings -- including fanning the side in the second -- and seven for the game.

It was only a matter of time before the Griffons got to Gould, though.

"We were just kind of in a funk," Lagreid said of the team's early struggles. "I don't know if people were seeing the ball right or what, but tonight's we saw it a lot better.

"There was a little bit of an inspiration, not to lose to the high-school-age players. (Gould) was throwing that slider pretty good early, and then in the middle of the game he was getting a little bit wild and got a little bit behind in the count, so he had to throw the fastball more."

Nevada's fourth started innocently enough as Tommy Fitzgerald and Nick Adams drew one-out walks. Lagreid, who entered the postseason with a team-leading .392 average, grounded a single between shortstop and third to drive in Fitzgerald for a 1-0 edge. Ottrando followed by punching an opposite-field single to right, knocking in Adams to make it 2-0.

"It was just 0-2 and (Gould) left a curveball up," Ottrando said of his base hit, with Adams stealing third on the play and scoring easily. "He made a mental mistake, and you try to take advantage of a pitcher's mistake.

Lagreid scored on a throwing error for the third run, and Ottrando crossed home plate on a wild pitch to make it 4-0.

Right-hander Connor Lambert pitched shutout ball for more than six innings, leaving with two out in the seventh when the Wolverines scored all four of their runs. The Washington State University pitcher allowed four runs -- all earned -- on seven hits. He struck out seven, all through the first six innings.

Left-hander Charlie Shaver, out of Nebraska, pitched 1 1/3 innings of hitless relief before closer Ryan Carbah, a Belton native who played for St. Charles Community College, pitched a perfect ninth, striking out two and giving Nevada's staff a total of 10 strikeouts.

Before Lambert departed, Ottrando's RBI groundout in the sixth made it 5-0 before the Wolverines closed to 5-4.

But Greg Sillivent of Tarleton State tripled with one out in the bottom of the seventh, and scored on a wild pitch to make it 6-4, the first of five runs in the inning.

Lagreid and Ottrando highlighted the inning, on Lagreid's two-run double and Ottrando following with a run-scoring double.

"The biggest hit of the night was Greg Sillivent getting that triple," Hill said, "which helped us answer back after they put four runs up on the board and helped give us a cushion." It was a welcome sight after Monday's offensive struggle.

"We've been swinging the bats, but we haven't done it in order with each other," Nevada lead-off hitter Ryan Kortaz, who plays for Kent State, said. "So, it felt good to have a couple hits back-to-back to score some runs.

"If we lose, we're gone and that's it. "

Notes -- The game, which lasted right at two hours, started an hour behind schedule at just after 11 p.m. It was slated to begin at 10.