SAN FRANCISCO – Tyler Overstreet (Fresno, Calif., Central HS), Santa Barbara City College) scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the fifth inning to lift the San Francisco State baseball team to a 4-3 victory over Westmont College in the second half of a doubleheader Sunday at Maloney Field.
The Gators also posted a 12-11 triumph in 14 innings to complete game one of the weekend set, which was suspended on Saturday due to darkness, before suffering a 9-0 defeat in the opener of Sunday's regularly scheduled twin-bill.
In the nightcap, the Warriors (3-3) dented the scoreboard in the top of the first inning after Tim Leary drove in Jordan Bottenfield with a double to deep center field.
SF State (2-2) struck back with a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the second after Westmont pitcher Geoff Rocha's pick-off attempt of
Matt Quintero (San Gabriel, Calif., St. Francis HS) at first base sailed into foul territory, plating
Kevin Dultz (Altadena, Calif., Pasadena HS, Glendale College), who led off the inning with a double and promptly advanced to third on a wild pitch. Moments later, Quintero came home on
Devon King's (San Diego, Calif., Sierra HS, CCSF) groundout, putting the host school up 2-1.
After the two teams exchanged runs in the third inning, the Warriors knotted the score at 3-3 in the top half of the fourth on Taylor Maples' RBI triple to left. However, the Gators went ahead to stay in the bottom of the fifth without the benefit of a hit. King led off with a walk and was replaced by pinch-runner
Keith Garcia (Ventura, Calif., Rio Mesa HS, Oxnard College), while Overstreet was hit by a pitch. Then
Drew Andersen (Gilroy, Calif., Gilroy HS, William Penn Univ.) reached on a fielder's choice as Garcia was thrown out a third on the sacrifice attempt. The next batter
Nick Bowerman (Oakley, Calif., Freedom HS, Mount Mercy College) also reached on a fielder's as Andersen was forced at second, while Overstreet advanced to third. Moments later, Overstreet touched the plate after Rocha skipped a pitch through the legs of catcher Evan Soliman, giving SF State a 4-3 lead it would not relinquish.
Nic Banaugh (Novato, Calif., San Marin HS, College of Marin) (1-0) shut down the Warriors the rest of the way, picking up his first victory as a Gator after allowing just one hit in three innings after relieving starter
Ryan DeJesus (Westlake Village, Calif., Westlake HS). Meanwhile, Rocha (0-1) was tagged with the loss after giving up four runs (two earned) on three hits and three walks in 4 2/3 innings of work.
Dultz was 3-for-3 in the contest, while Bowerman and King each had an RBI.
In the opener of the doubleheader, Westmont raced to a 7-0 lead through the first four innings and never looked back as Daniel Cabuling (2-0) and Chris Pance combined on a five-hit shutout. Cabuling went six innings and struck out five, giving up just two hits and three walks, while Pance picked up his first save after pitching the final three innings.
Colton Christianson posted four RBI, including two in the fourth inning on a single to right field, which brought home Bottenfield and Coby Cress.
Meanwhile,
Kyle Mastellar (Corning, Calif., Corning Union HS, Shasta College) pitched four innings of scoreless relief for the Gators, allowing just one run and two walks after taking over in the fifth for starter
Spencer Kreisberg (Tigard, Ore., Tigard HS, Los Medanos College) (0-1), who absorbed the loss. Overstreet went 2-for-4 at the plate, notching his first double of the year in the defeat.
The two teams got off to an early start on Sunday, resuming their suspended game from Saturday in the top of the 11
th inning before engaging one another in their regularly scheduled doubleheader.
Sean Proni (Valencia, Calif., Valencia HS, College of Marin) ended the suspense in the bottom of the 14
th with a bases-loaded single, giving first-year head coach
Mike Cummins his first victory at the SF State helm.
Andersen led off the 14th with a double to left center, advancing to third moments later on a balk by Warrior reliever Kyle Noe (0-1). After two intentional walks, Proni lifted a 2-1 pitch to center field, making a winner out of Dultz (1-0), who took to the mound in the top of the frame after catching the first 13 innings and set down Westmont in order.
In all, the two teams combined for 37 hits, with the Gators owning a slight 20-17 advantage.
Nick Nyman (Susanville, Calif., Lassen HS, Lassen College) went 3-for-5 with a homer, three RBI, two runs and two steals. Proni (three runs) and
Brian Bianchi (Los Altos, Calif., St. Francis HS, College of San Mateo) (three steals) also recorded three hits each, while Dultz tallied three runs as well.
