Hawai‘i 3, Sacramento State 2 (7)
Hawai‘i 5, Sacramento State 3
HONOLULU
–(UH Media Relations) The University of Hawai'i baseball team recorded a doubleheader sweep over Sacramento State, winning game one, 3-2, and completing the sweep with a 5-3 win in the nightcap. The Rainbows improve to 17-14 overall and 3-0 in the WAC, while the Hornets drop to 9-23 overall and 0-3 in conference.
In game one, the Rainbows opened the scoring with three runs in the bottom of the third inning. Breland Almadova (1-3, 1 R, 1 RBI) doubled and scored, and Michael Blake (1-2, 1 RBI) hit an RBI-double to score Pi'ikea Kitamura (0-2, 1 R). Sac State plated only one run each in the fifth and seventh innings, as Lenny Linsky came on to collect his fifth save of the season.
Dax Turner led the Hornets batting 2-3 with one RBI.
Connor Little (3-1) earned the win for UH, pitching five and two-thirds innings allowing one run on three hits. Brandon Sandoval (0-2) tossed six innings for the Hornets in receiving the loss.
Game two saw UH again strike early. A pair of RBI-singles by Blake (1-4, 1 RBI) and Jeff Van Doornum (1-4, 1 R, 1 RBI) helped the Rainbows take a 3-0 lead after one inning. Sacramento State responded late in the game with three eighth-inning runs, but again it wasn't enough as Hawai'i held on to complete the sweep.
David Del Grande (3-5, 1 R) and Blake Miller (3-3, 1 RBI) paced the Hornets at the plate.
Jarrett Arakawa (3-2) recorded a career-high nine strikeouts in earning the win. He pitched seven complete innings allowing three runs. Dallas Chadwick (2-3) was charged with the loss for the Hornets, allowing four runs in four innings of work.
There were 3,448 tickets sold for the contest, and a turnstile count of 2,244.
Hawai'i and Sacramento State conclude their series Sunday. First pitch is set for 1:05 p.m.
Fresno State 5, San Jose State 1 (7)
San Jose State 4, Fresno State 3
San Jose, Calif.
-(SJSU Media Relations) Esteban Guzman struck out a career-high 13 batters as the San Jose State Spartans took the second game of a doubleheader 4-3 against the No. 9 Fresno State Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon in Municipal Stadium. Fresno State won the opener 5-1.
The split leaves the Spartans at 21-10 overall, 2-1 in Western Athletic Conference play. San Jose State is now 4-2 against top-10 ranked opponents this season. Fresno State is 21-5, 1-2 in league action. The Spartans have taken two of the first three games in this four-game series.
Guzman (4-1) tossed seven innings and scattered seven hits, giving up one run to earn the win. It tied the longest outing of his career and he had at least one strike out every inning he worked. In four innings he struck out two and in the fifth struck out the side.
"Today I was getting guys out with both my slider and change-up," Guzman said. "My goal coming into the game was to get strike one; by that I mean to get ahead of the batters. I was able to do that, which allowed me to work down, work away and keep painting (the corner of the plate). I wasn't getting too cute with my pitches, but it allowed me to go to my off-speed pitches more and they couldn't lay off them."
The Spartans offense put single runs on the board in the second and fourth innings. In the second Craig Hertler singled home a run to give San Jose a 1-0 lead. The Bulldogs tied the game in the top of the third with an RBI double from Danny Muno. In the top fourth Zack Jones doubled home a run to push San Jose State back in front 2-1.
In the Spartans seventh, Jason Martin reach base on a fielder's choice. With two outs and the runner on first the stage was set for Anthony Bona. Bona hammered a shot down the left field line and out of Municipal Stadium to give the San Jose State a 4-1 lead.
"(The count) got to 2-1 and I was looking to drive the ball, whether the pitch was outside or inside," Bona said. "I got a ball that was left up over the plate and I turned on it. It's my first home run and it feels pretty good."
In the eighth Guzman made way for Jones who set the Bulldogs down; one-two-three. In the ninth Jones sandwiched two walks around a strike out to open the inning. Fresno State got an RBI double and sac fly to cut the lead to 4-3 which would be the final score. Despite the two runs Jones earned his sixth save of the season.
"Esteban deserves all the credit for game two," head coach Sam Piraro said. "He came out, was dominant and gave us a chance to get our bearings. He was sharp and neutralized the middle of their order.
"Anthony's hit was very big and it turned out to be the game winner. I was really happy for him because earlier in the game he was up there with the bases loaded and swung at ball four. He was really upset with himself, but for him to come back and get that home run was uplifting for him as well as the team."
FRESNO STATE TAKES GAME ONE
In the first game of the day, Fresno State scored a run in the first inning and two in the second to take a quick 3-0 lead. That was the end of the day for Spartans starter Blake McFarland (4-1), who would be tagged with the loss.
San Jose State scored its lone run in the second. After successive singles to open the inning, Kerry Jenkins reached base on an error by the Bulldogs third baseman scoring the run from third base.
Fresno State added single runs in the fifth and sixth to push their advantage to 5-1 in the seven inning game. That was the final score as Josh Poytress went the distance for Fresno State and earned his third win of the season after allowing six hits and a run. Garrett Weber led the Bulldogs with two RBI.
"Game one was a combination of things," Piraro said. "Fresno State did what we were trying to avoid, which was get off to a fast start. We were a little flat coming out and we won't play well if we do that. They were sharp and they made us pay for it."
The series wraps up on Sunday with a single game. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. in Municipal Stadium.
Louisiana Tech 7, New Mexico State 0 (7)
New Mexico State 7, Louisiana Tech 5
RUSTON, La
. -(NM State Media Relations) The New Mexico State baseball team (24-7, 2-1 WAC) split the doubleheader with Louisiana Tech, Saturday, April 9 at J.C. Love Field in Ruston, La., falling 7-0 in game one and winning 7-5 in game two.
Sophomore right-hander Tyler Mack got the win in game two as he entered the game in the second inning to work seven innings and allow only one run. Junior closer Scott Coffman picked up another win as he came in during the ninth inning of game two striking out two of the four batters he faced.
The Aggies tallied 12 hits on the day and committed three errors on the defensive side of the field to earn the split on the day. The Bulldogs marked 22 hits on the day, but that was good enough for only one victory.
GAME ONE
The Aggies dropped game one of the doubleheader 7-0 as they were held to only two hits in the game. One hit came from pinch hitter Tanner Rust on a lead-off double to right field in the sixth inning, while the other hit came from junior shortstop Tyler Forney in the third.
Starting pitcher Trey Ross fell to 5-2 on the year after working 4 1/3 innings, striking out two batters and giving up seven runs, six of them earned. Right-handed reliever Randy Montoya saw two-thirds of an inning, while freshman righty Tim Torsney finished the game working one inning.
The Aggies were shut out for only the third time this year as the Bulldog starter picked up a complete game win.
GAME TWO
NM State took game two of the double header 7-5, behind the arm of right-hander Tyler Mack. With the Aggie starting pitcher struggling in the first inning, pitching Coach Chase Tidwell went to the bullpen to calm down the La. Tech offense. Sophomore Randy Montoya took the mound with no outs and a runner aboard in the bottom of the first and forced the Bulldogs into three consecutive groundouts.
Mack took over in the second and ran with the momentum that Montoya started.
"Randy and Mack were stellar for us this afternoon," head coach Rocky Ward said. "I was proud of our guys because of the way they responded in game two after being shut out in game one."
The Aggies were the first to get on the board when junior third baseman came up with an RBI on a groundout to the shortstop, bringing in centerfielder Wesley Starkes who got on with a lead-off walk in the first. Senior first baseman Ryan Aguayo tallied two RBI of his own on a solid double to right-centerfield.
La. Tech took a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the first with the first four batters crossing the plate before Montoya came to the mound.
Senior Chace Perkins lead-off the second inning with a double and eventually scored to tie the game on an RBI sacrifice fly by Starkes. The third and fourth innings were scoreless before the two Aggies crossed the plate in the top of the fifth to go up 6-4.
La. Tech threatened in the bottom of the sixth, but an outstanding 4-6-3 double-play took the momentum away from the Bulldogs. The Aggies added an insurance run in the top of the eighth on a sacrifice fly by sophomore second baseman Parker Hipp, but La. Tech answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning. After the Aggies went down in order in the top of the ninth, Coffman came in to close out the game and give NM State its second conference win of the year.
The Aggies face La. Tech in the series finale, Sunday, April 10 at J.C. Love Field with game time set for 12:00 p.m. (MT). Live stats are available at www.NMStateSports.com and radio coverage is available in Las Cruces on KSNM AM 570 with Jeff Matthews giving the play-by-play.
Nevada 11, Seattle 10
RENO, NEV.
- (Nevada Media Relations) The Nevada baseball team (9-17) scored six runs in the bottom of the ninth to defeat the Seattle Redhawks (12-13) 11-10 today. Nevada entered the bottom of the ninth trailing 10-5, but won the game on two ninth inning home runs. Redhawks RHP Bryan Dalton earned the loss giving up six runs (three earned) on four hits in 1.2 innings.
Joe Kohan came to the plate with bases loaded, and hit a one-out grand slam to cut Seattle's lead to 10-9. Brock Stassi drew a one out walk and after Brian Barnett popped out to right field for the second out, Garrett Yrigoyen belted his first home run of the year to left field to win the game. Before the home run, Yrigoyen was 0-4 and struck out in his two previous at-bats.
RHP Sean Prihar (1-0), who pitched a scoreless ninth, won his first game of the year and his first as a member of the Wolf Pack.
The game got off to a rough start as starter Mark Joukoff (1-5, 6.81 ERA) ran into trouble early in the first, giving up a leadoff single to second baseman Trent Oleszczuk (3-for-3, two walks) and a one-out single to left fielder Doug Kincaid (3-5 two singles, double). Oleszczuk and Kincaid later came around to score on a double by Josh Kalalau. Joukoff struck out Jake Sloan for the second out and Kalalua was thrown out at home to end the inning.
Joukoff faced three hitters in the second, but gave up a leadoff walk, a single, a double and two runs before being relieved by Tyler Rogstad with two outs and a runner on second in the third. Rogstad allowed the inherited runner to score, and allowed just one more earned run over the next two innings.
Joukoff earned his second consecutive no-decision, giving up five earned runs on seven hits and two walks in 2.2 innings
Brock Stassi scored Nevada's first run with two outs in the third, when Curtis Frisbie drew a bases loaded walk. The Wolf Pack added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth, but left the bases loaded for the second time of the game. Waylen Sing Chow led off the frame with a pinch-hit walk and scored on an RBI triple by Michael Turay. Turay scored on a balk by LHP Cory Mack.
Frisbie hit his sixth double of the season going 1-4 with a walk. Barnett and Sing Chow each had a hit in the contest and Stassi went 2-4 with a walk and a run scored extending his hit streak to 11 games.
Rickey Denham pitched 1.2 innings, allowing one earned run on two hits and Jayson McClaren allowed three runs on three hits in 1.1 innings.
Nick Melino went 0-4 with one walk and was hit by a pitch. He has reached base in all 26 games this season, but is hitless in his last three games.
LHP Brock Stassi (0-2, 17.34 ERA) will take the mound for the Pack tomorrow in the final game of the weekend series.