SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – The San Francisco State baseball team ended the 2009 campaign in heart-breaking fashion on Sunday, falling to Cal State San Bernardino, 9-8, in 12 innings at Fiscalini Field in San Bernardino, Calif.
With the defeat, The Gators finish the season at 14-33 overall, including a 7-29 mark in the California Collegiate Athletic Association, while Coyotes evened their overall record at 23-23 and moved to 17-18 in league play.
SF State took the lead at 8-7 in the top of the 12th on Greg Kline's (Las Vegas, Nevada, San Joaquin Delta College) solo home run with two outs; however, CSUSB rallied with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning to escape with the victory. Andrew Tapia and Brent Planck led off the frame with consecutive doubles off to tie the score at 8-8, then after an intentional walk, Jordan Lowe delivered an RBI single to bring home Planck with the game-winner.
Chad Borowoski (3-0) pitched four innings in relief to pick up the win, allowing one run on three hits and one walk, while Ryan DeJesus (Westlake Village, Westlake) (1-2) took the loss. SF State starter Patrick Haugen (Cayucos, California, Cuesta College) struck out eight batters in seven innings, giving up three earned runs on seven hits and five walks, before yielding to four relievers.
The two teams pounded out 16 hits apiece as Kline and Ryan Williams (Woodland, Yuba College)each went 4-for-6 from the plate with two runs and two RBI to spearhead the Gator attack, while Nick Nyman (Susanville, California, Lassen, Lassen College) (two RBI) and Zack Anderson (Ventura, California, Ventura College) added two hits each.
Trailing 3-1 in the top of the fourth, SF State narrowed the gap as Williams led off with a home run over the center field fence and then took its first lead at 4-3 after pushing across a pair of scores in the sixth. Kline knocked in Williams with a single to right, while Nyman soon followed with an RBI single to drive in Anderson, who previously reached on a fielder's choice.
After the Coyotes knotted things up with a run in their half of the sixth, SF State went back in front, 7-4, with three scores in the eighth. With two outs and two runners aboard, Nyman plated Kline with his second RBI single of the game, while pinch-hitter Lorenzo Ubungen (San Francisco, City College of San Francisco) knocked in Anderson and Nyman with a double to left center.
However, the Gators were unable to put CSUSB in their rear-view mirror as Lowe hit a two-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, which narrowed the gap to 7-6. The Coyotes then got the equalizer in the ninth as Julio Torres knocked in Omar Manzanarez with an RBI single, which sent the game into extra innings.
In the top of the 10th, SF State threatened as Kline reached on a fielder's choice, while Anderson followed with a single. However, Borowski induced a pop-up and a groundout to get out of the jam, setting the stage for the dramatic 12th.
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