RUSTON, La. -- After a pitching duel the night before, the second game in the Battle of the Bulldogs would prove to be a hitting clinic.
Again, the game could not be decided in regulation, and with two outs in the bottom of the tenth, sophomore Albie Goulder singled into centerfield to bring home senior second baseman Amos Ramon to give the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (23-13, 7-3 WAC) the one-run 5-4 win over Fresno State (26-12, 7-4 WAC) and possession of first place in the Western Athletic Conference at J. C. Love Field Friday night.
"(One run wins) never get old," Tech head coach Wade Simoneaux said of the second extra-inning game in two nights. "When you?™re playing a high caliber team like Fresno State, it never gets old."
Fresno State got on the scoreboard first with a single from sophomore Beau Mills that scored junior Loren Storey, and took a 2-0 lead into the middle of the first inning when Mills scored of a single from junior Nick Moresi.
The Tech Bulldogs answered in the bottom of the first after junior Brady Bascle batted freshman Jericho Jones home, and senior Matt Lacy would score on a wild pitch to tie the game 2-2. Tech took the go ahead run thanks to a single from Ramon and was up 3-2 in the bottom of the first.
Fresno recaptured the lead in the ensuing inning with a two run home run from sophomore Steve Susdorf to go ahead 4-3.
Tech tied the score at four runs in the bottom of the fourth after a wild pitch from Romero that scored Ramon.
Four scoreless innings ensued thanks to junior pitcher Brandon Hudson retiring a total of 15 in a row between the fourth inning and the top the ninth before freshman Erik Wetzel singled into centerfield with two outs.
Ramon gets the win after coming in for relief of Hudson who pitched 7.2 innings with an 0.71 ERA. Junior Brandon Miller will get the loss.
The final game of the series is set for 3 p.m. Saturday. Lacy is projected to start for the Bulldogs, while junior Andy Underwood should take the mound for Fresno.
"I?™m telling our guys, tomorrow?™s game is for first place," Simoneaux said. "If we win tomorrow, we keep first. These guys really deserve it."
Sacramento State 9, San Jose State 7
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Junior right-hander Billy Sinacori earned his fourth save of the season and sophomore David Flores recorded three RBIs, leading Sacramento State to a 9-7 victory over San Jose State on Friday afternoon at Hornet Field.
The Hornets, who have won six of their last seven games, improve to 17-21 overall and 6-5 in the Western Athletic Conference. The Spartans fall to 23-15 and 4-4 in the WAC. The three-game conference series is now even 1-1, with the rubber game scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.
Once again Sacramento State was led by Flores, the Hornets?™ starting third baseman. The Union City, Calif., native finished the day 3-for-4 with three RBIs, two runs scored, one double and one stolen base. The current WAC Hitter of the Week, Flores has now doubled in his last five games and is hitting .556 against WAC competition while leading the team on an eight-game hitting streak.
After falling behind by a run in he top of the first, the Hornets responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning. With the bases loaded and one out, Flores hit a two-run single to center, scoring junior Patrick Cummins and senior Buddy Morales. Senior Jim Strombach, currently on a five-game hitting streak, singled to left field, bringing in Brian Blauser from third.
With a 3-1 lead, the Hornets added two runs in the third. A double down the left field line from Flores scored Blauser and advanced Keiper to third. Keiper was thrown out at home on Strombach?™s fielder?™s choice, but with Strombach on first, the Aiea, Hawaii native, stole his ninth base of the season while San Jose State catcher Brody Massman committed a throwing error, allowing Flores to score from third.
San Jose State starter Branden Dewing was relieved in the third inning in his shortest outing of the season after allowing five runs (four earned ) on six hits.
The Spartans added a run in the fourth and tied the game 6-6 in the fifth, when Sacramento State starter Matt Campbell surrendered a three-run homer to designated hitter Chris Williammee over the left field wall. With just one out, Sam Hall then singled to center field, but Flores made a diving grab on Nick Epedendio?™s grounder, turning the double play and escaping the inning.
The Hornet offense once again responded in the bottom of the inning, with Morales leading off with a double off the center field wall. The West Covina, Calif., native advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored the go-ahead run on a balk. Keiper kept the inning alive with a single to right field and advanced to third on a single from Flores. Strombach?™s infield chopper scored Keiper from third for the second run of the inning. Senior Ronnie Machado flied out to center, advancing Flores to third and Strombach to second for senior Everet Rincon, whose RBI-single scored Flores for the Hornets?™ final run.
Strombach is batting .337 on the year and was 2-for-4 in the game with two RBIs. Currently, on a seven-game hitting streak, Rincon is now hitting .359 against WAC competition.
Junior Gary Johnson finished the game 2-for-5, continuing to lead the team with 52 hits and 17 multiple-hit games. Blauser finished 2-for-4, recording his eighth multiple-hit game of the year.
Campbell (4-6) earned the win for Sacramento State, pitching 7.0 innings and allowing six runs on 10 hits.
Brandon Hennessey took the loss for the Spartans, pitching 2.0 innings and allowing three runs on three hits.
The Hornets found themselves in trouble down the stretch, loading the bases in both the eighth and ninth innings. Senior James Wheeler came on in the eighth, forcing John Shaffer into a double play before striking out Justin Santich-Highes to end the inning. In the ninth, the bases were again loaded with one out when Sinacori came on. Nick Epidendio was walked, scoring Ryan Angel, but Rincon turned the double play to record the final outs of the game.
Saturday?™s rubber game will begin at 1 p.m. at Hornet Field. The game can be heard on www.hornetsports.com with Dylan McKenzie providing the play-by-play.
Hawai'i 13, Nevada 4
RENO, Nev. - The University of Hawai`i Rainbow baseball team (26-11, 4-5 WAC) defeated the Nevada Wolf Pack (15-17, 5-5) 13-4 in front of a crowd of 1,015 in just the second night game ever at Peccole Park Friday. Steven Wright (6-2) got the win, pitching 7.0 innings, allowing one run on seven hits with no walks and eight strikeouts. Tim Schoeninger (3-3) took the loss for Nevada.
Luis Avila led the way offensively, going 2-for-5 with a home run, a double, four RBI and two runs. Robbie Wilder added a 3-for-5 game with two RBI and a run while Justin Frash was 2-for-3 with two runs and a RBI. Ryan Asato, who started because both Derek DuPree and Jorge Franco stayed back at the hotel with an illness, went 2-for-4 with two runs.
Hawai`i jumped ahead in the first inning as Avila blasted his fifth homer of the season, a three-run shot to left, to put UH up 3-0. The 'Bows put up another three-spot in the second inning as Wilder hit a two-run single that was followed by a RBI-single by Frash.
Those six runs were more than enough for Wright, who retired the first eight batters he faced, only allowing a run in the fourth inning. The Rainbows put it out of striking distance in the fifth, putting up five runs, highlighted by a three-run double by Elijah Christensen, to hold a 11-1 advantage.
UH added two runs in the eighth with Nevada scoring two in the eighth and one in the ninth to push the final to 13-4.
The two teams will play again tomorrow at 1 p.m. at Peccole Park.
New Mexico State 13, North Florida 4
Las Cruces, N.M. ?“ Kyle McFadden earned his first win of the season, striking out four batters in 6.1 innings as the New Mexico State baseball team defeated the North Florida Ospreys 13-4, Friday night at Presley Askew Field. The Aggies improve to 13-25 on the season with the non-conference win while the Ospreys fall to 20-18 overall.
The first three innings of the game were a pitcher?™s duel as NMSU trailed 2-1 heading into the fourth, but the offense rallied to score twelve runs in their final five at-bats to snap the three-game losing streak and win the first game of the series.
McFadden (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) improves to 1-4 as he gave up only three earned runs while Jeremy Papelbon took the loss for UNF, surrendering six runs, four earned on eight hits in four complete innings.
Adam Harvey (Celina, Texas) was a monster at the plate for NMSU as he finished 3-for-4 at the plate with a double and three RBI while Vince Rodden (Overland Park, Kansas) went 3-for-5 with a pair of RBI. Joseph Godinez (Redlands, Calif.) led the team in RBI for the game as he plated four runs on two hits while four other Aggies had two hits apiece and the offense scored their 13 runs on 17 total hits.
The Ospreys put two runners on in their first at-bat after McFadden walked the first two hitters, but he settled down and retired the next three straight on a pair of strikeouts and fly out to center that Rodden saved on a great diving catch.
Then in the Aggies?™ half of the first, Rodden and Jason Long (Midwest City, Okla.) drew back-to-back walks and advanced on a groundout from Abe Aguirre (El Paso, Texas/Oklahoma State/Eastwood HS) before Rodden was plated on a groundout from Lance to give NMSU a 1-0 lead.
UNF tied the game up at one apiece in the top of the second on a solo home run from Brandon Diaz and then took a one run lead at 2-1 in the top of the third after a pair of hits.
The Aggies jumped back on top in the bottom of the fourth when Derek Maytubby (Albuquerque, N.M./Sandia HS) led off the inning with a single to left and Patrick Fields (Oklahoma City, Okla.) reached on an error from the Osprey right fielder. Harvey then promptly doubled to left and plated one run and a sac fly to shortstop from Godinez scored Fields as NMSU was ahead 3-2 after four complete.
Then in the fifth, UNF was held scoreless again by McFadden and the Aggie offense pounded out four runs in the bottom half of the inning that started with a Lance double to center. Maytubby followed up with a base hit and Fields smacked a double of his own to score one run, putting NMSU up 4-2 with nobody out. Harvey singled to right and scored Maytubby, Godinez smacked a base hit to right to score Fields and Rodden singled to right giving the Aggies a 7-2 edge heading into the sixth.
In the bottom of the sixth, NMSU added another run on three singles from Aguirre, Lance and Harvey as the lead was now 8-2 after six innings.
The Ospreys showed life in the top of the seventh when they scored twice on two hits to trim the lead to four at 8-4.
The Aggies then exploded for five more runs in the bottom of the eighth on three hits and a UNF error to put the game out of reach at 13-4. Aguirre tripled to right to lead off the inning, Maytubby reached on an error which scored Aguirre and Fields was hit by a pitch to start the rally. Pinch runner Jason Rodriguez (Chandler, Ariz.) scored on a passed ball for the second run of the inning and Jeremy Uhl (Farmington, N.M.) then drew a walk before Godinez singled up the middle to score two more runs. The final Aggie run came from a Rodden base hit to right and reliever Brian Gausman (Aurora, Colo.) retired the Ospreys in four batters in the top of the ninth to secure the win.
"Our offense did a good job making their pitcher throw a lot of pitches in his four innings and he had some really good stuff to throw our way," Aggie head coach Rocky Ward said. "Their reliever was also really good and had a sharp slider that was down in the zone. This is a good team that we?™re facing and when they scored the two runs in the seventh the game was literally in jeopardy. For the first time in weeks we responded and scored more runs to take them out of the ball game. The kids played well and tomorrow we hope to repeat with Jason Conner on the mound."
The Aggies and Ospreys will face off again tomorrow night at 6:05 p.m. at Presley Askew Field for game two of the series.