Sacramento State 9, Fresno State 7
FRESNO, Calif. – (Sacramento State Media Relations) The Sacramento State baseball team scored six runs over the final two innings and held off a ninth inning rally to defeat Fresno State, 9-7, in the opening contest of a three-game Western Athletic Conference series on Friday night at Beiden Field.
The Hornets (25-21, 8-5 WAC) tallied nine runs on 15 hits with one error while the Bulldogs scored seven runs on 12 hits and three errors.
The game was tied up, 3-3, heading into the eighth inning when the Hornets exploded for four runs. Senior Hunter Adrian hit a leadoff single to get things started before sophomore David Del Grande came in to pinch run for him. Del Grande proceeded to steal second before and moved to third on senior Trevor Paine’s single to center. After a pitching change, junior Clay Cederquist was hit by a pitch to load the bases. In the next at-bat, freshman Scotty Burcham reached first on a fielder’s choice by Del Grande was thrown out at home for the first out of the inning.
With the bases still loaded in the eighth, sophomore Justin Higley lined a double to right to score both Greg Meyer, who pinch ran for Cederquist, and Paine. Junior Andrew Ayers hit into another fielder’s choice for the second out of the inning, with Burcham being tagged out a home. With two outs the Hornets weren’t down, however, as Higley came home on a throwing error and senior Derrick Chung hit a single to drive in Ayers and plate the fourth run of the frame.
Sacramento State scored two more runs in the top of the ninth, with Burcham driving in Paine on a suicide squeeze and Will Soto hitting a single up the middle to score Meyer late in the inning.
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Louisiana Tech 4, San Jose State 3
RUSTON, La. - (LT Media Relations) Junior second baseman Austin Hedges was hit-by-a-pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to bring home the winning run as Louisiana Tech defeated San Jose State, 4-3, on Friday night at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park.
The victory improved the Bulldogs to 21-23 and 4-9 in Western Athletic Conference play while the Spartans fall to 21-20 and 5-5 in conference.
Junior Jamie Gilley (2-4) picked up his second win of the season as he went two perfect innings in relief and stuck three batters. Kalei Contrades (1-2) allowed the winning run and was charged with the loss after striking out three in 1.2 innings. Jeb Stefan struck out eight in 7.0 innings for the no-decision as the junior lowered his ERA to 4.58.
"Jeb is as good as any pitcher in this conference," said head coach Wade Simoneaux. "He's a guy I'd pick first out of anybody in this conference and Gilley pitched great out of the bullpen."
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Hawai‘i 14, New Mexico State 2 (7)
HONOLULU – (UH Media Relations) The University of Hawai'i baseball team moved into a tie for first place in the Western Athletic Conference with a 14-2 mercy rule win over New Mexico State on Friday night at Les Murakami Stadium. The Rainbows and Aggies are now tied atop the WAC standings at 7-4, as UH eyes the series sweep Saturday when the two teams meet in the finale.
The 'Bows (27-18) took advantage of a series of Aggie miscues, scoring their 14 runs on just nine hits off seven NMSU (30-16) pitchers. Starter Adam Mott (5-2) received the loss, working three innings and allowing four earned runs on five hits.
Max Duval recorded a game-high three RBI, two off a double as part of UH's six-run fifth inning. Zack Swasey batted 2-4 with two runs and two RBI, and Pi'ikea Kitamura hit 2-4 with two runs and one RBI.
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