ROHNERT PARK, Calif. – The San Francisco State baseball team erupted for six runs in the top of the fourth inning as the Gators defeated Sonoma State, 10-1, in a non-conference road game on Tuesday at Seawolf Diamond.
SF State (12-17) also received a strong pitching performance from the quartet of
Ryan DeJesus (Westlake Village, Calif., Westlake HS),
Kyle Mastellar (Corning, Calif., Shasta College),
Mark Rajeski (Alamo, Calif., Monte Vista HS) and
Kyle Pfeiffer (Palo Cedro, Calif., Shasta College), who limited the Seawolves (12-16) to one hit apiece.
Mastellar (2-2), who tossed four innings in relief of starter DeJesus, was credited with the victory, tying a season-high of four strikeouts, while giving up no runs with just one walk and a bunt single. DeJesus also pitched well in his three innings of work, fanning four batters for the fifth time this year, while ceding just one hit and one walk as well.
SF State jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the second on
Tyler Overstreet's (Fresno, Calif., Santa Barbara CC) RBI groundout, which brought in
Sean Proni (Valencia, Calif., College of Marin), who previous reached on an error.
The Gators then broke open the contest with six runs in the fourth to forge a comfortable 7-0 advantage.
Nick Bowerman (Oakley, Calif., Mount Mercy College) led off the frame by belting the first very pitch over the left-field fence for his fifth homer of the season. After a pop-out, Proni singled to left field and took second on wild pitch, while Overstreet drew a base on balls. Shortly thereafter, Ben Mielke singled through the right side to score Proni, sending Overstreet around to third.
Drew Andersen (Gilroy, Calif., William Penn Univ.) then laid down a bunt and reached safely on an error by SSU pitcher Ken Cook as Overstreet waltzed home. SF State kept the pressure on as
Nick Nyman got aboard via a fielder's choice, while
Kevin Dultz (Altadena, Calif., Glendale CC) stepped to the plate and cleared the bases with a three-run dinger on a 1-1 pitch.
The Gators stretched the margin to 8-0 in the fifth when Overstreet singled to drive in Proni once again, after the SF State senior reached on a fielder's choice and stole second.
The Gators also added single runs in the seventh and ninth to close out the scoring, respectively, as
Greg Kline (Las Vegas, Nev., San Joaquin Delta College) hit a sacrifice fly to plate Dultz, while Nyman scored on
Devon King's (San Diego, Calif., CCSF) RBI groundout.
SF State lost its bid for a shutout in the bottom of the ninth when Michael Cole singled in Chris Cook, who drew a lead-off walk and later stole second.
Despite allowing just one unearned run on one hit and two walks in three innings, Seawolf starter Ian Ocon (0-1) was tagged with the loss, while reliever Ken Cook followed to pitch the fateful fourth.
The Gators jump back into league play on Friday, March 26, when they travel to Chico State to begin a four-game series. The two teams will play each other in Chico for the first two contests before shifting venues to SF State's Maloney Field for a doubleheader on Sunday, March 28.
Box Score
