SAN FRANCISCO – Pinch-runner
Keith Garcia (Ventura, Oxnard College)scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the seventh inning as the San Francisco State baseball team rallied to defeat Cal Baptist, 6-5, in the second of two afternoon games Monday at Maloney Field. The Gators also received another strong pitching performance from starter
Patrick Haugen (Cayucos, California, Cuesta College), who tossed his fourth complete game of the season to help SF State improve to 9-26 overall. Meanwhile with the loss, the Lancers drop to 23-17 on the year.
Earlier in the day, the Gators dropped a 10-3 decision to Point Loma Nazarene (26-9), who entered the game with a No. 4 ranking in the NAIA.
Against CBU, SF State drew first blood in the bottom of the first inning when
Nick Nyman (Susanville, California, Lassen, Lassen College)scored from second on
Zack Anderson's (Ventura, California, Ventura College)one-out single through the left side, giving the home an early 1-0 edge. The Lancers quickly answered in the top of the second as Bobby Burk drilled a two-run homer over the left field fence to put the visitors up 2-1.
The Gators reclaimed a 3-2 advantage in the bottom of the frame as
Matt Memeo (Cottonwood, California, West Valley, Shasta College) scored on a CBU error, while Nyman drove in
Bobby Carini (Pleasant Hill, California, De La Salle, Canada College) with an RBI single to left. However, the lead proved to be short-lived once again as the Lancers responded with a trio of runs in the top of the third to go back in front, 5-3. Eddie Quevedo crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly, while Sean Kelley and Burk added RBI singles.
After Anderson knocked in Nyman with another RBI single in the fourth, the Gators got the equalizer in the fifth when
Javier Solis (Gridley, Yuba College) came home on a double-play grounder, which knotted the score at 5-5. Then in the decisive seventh, Memeo led off with a single to center and was subsequently removed for Garcia, who entered as a pinch-runner. Following a grounder and a fly out, Carini laced an 0-1 pitch into the gap in left-center field to drive in Garcia with the eventual winning run.
Haugen (4-5) went the distance, giving up five runs on seven hits and four walks with eight strikeouts en route to the victory. After a shaky start, the junior hurler limited CBU to just one hit over the final six innings. Meanwhile, reliever Julian Arballo (2-3) took the loss, surrendering the go-ahead run along with three hits and one walk in 3 1/3 innings.
Nyman, Anderson and
Sean Proni (Valencia, CA, College of Marin) each went 3-for-5 at the plate to pace SF State's 16-hit attack.
Earlier in the day, Kevin Newburg's two-run double keyed a three-run first inning for Point Loma Nazarene as the visitors raced a 3-0 lead and never looked back. The Sea Lions scored once each in the second, third, fourth, and fifth innings before adding two runs in the sixth to increase the margin to 9-0.
Proni drove in the Gators' first run on a RBI double in the sixth and later scored in the inning on a single by
Ricky Del Zompo (Napa, Napa Valley College). After PLNU added another run in the eighth, Del Zompo drove in another run for SF State on a double which scored Proni to make the final, 10-3, Sea Lions.
PLNU notched 17 hits, with Mike Miles going 4-for-6 to go along with two runs scored. Tim Winslow also contributed three hits, while Newburg had three RBI in the victory.
Proni was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a RBI for SF State, while Del Zompo went 2-for-2 with two RBIs off the bench for the Gators.
Brandon Dixon picked up the victory, allowing two runs on six hits and two walks, while
Kyle Mastellar (Corning, Shasta Junior College) (0-8) took the loss.
