SAN FRANCISCO – Drew Andersen's bases-loaded walk with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning scored
Ben Mielke with the winning run as San Francisco State edged visiting Cal State Dominguez Hills, 2-1, in the first game of a California Collegiate Athletic Association doubleheader Saturday at Maloney Field.
The Gators (14-31, 9-26 CCAA) were unable to complete the sweep, however, as the Toros (21-23, 16-19 CCAA) captured the nightcap by an 8-3 tally.
In the game one, SF State received a brilliant pitching performance from starter A.J. Comaskey (1-1), who went the distance, striking out a career-high 11 batters en route to his first collegiate victory. The Gator senior gave up just five hits and no walks after tossing 105 pitches for the game.
The contest was scoreless until the bottom of the fourth when
Trevor Pasiecznik belted a one-out triple to right-center field and raced home shortly thereafter on
Kevin Dultz's sacrifice fly.
However, CSUDH got the equalizer in the top of the seventh under similar circumstances as Barrett Ceverha's hot grounder through the left side plated Drew Rodela, who previously launched a one-out triple of his own deep down the right field line.
With the score knotted at 1-1 in the bottom of the ninth, SF State loaded the bases on
Dustin Wold's base hit to left-center and bunt singles by Mielke and
Andrew Suvunnachuen. Moments later, Toro reliever Jose Serrano seemingly averted a major disaster after receiving a tailor-made 5-2-3 double play as Suvunnachuen and Mielke moved over to second and third, respectively.
However, the reprieve was only temporary as Dultz was intentionally walked to re-load the bases, while Andersen worked a 3-2 count against Serrano. With the game on the line, Serrano's sixth offering was wild and off-target as Mielke touched home with the game winner.
Serrano (0-1) pitched the final 1 2/3 innings in relief starter Josh Corrales, allowing one run on the three hits and two walks in the defeat. Corrales went toe-to-toe with Comaskey for most of the game, giving up just one run on three hits and no walks to go along with seven strikeouts in seven innings before yielding to Serrano in the bottom of the eighth.
Buoyed by its good fortune in the opener, SF State took a 1-0 lead in game two on Suvunnachuen's RBI double in the bottom of the first.
The momentum proved to be short-lived, however, as CSUDH plated three runs in both the second and third innings to forge an insurmountable 6-1 advantage. Jonathan Keener, who doubled and scored in the second, also smacked a two-run homer in the third to highlight the outburst.
The Toros then extended the margin to 8-1 following Brian Gregory's sacrifice fly in the fifth and Carlos Leyva's RBI single in the sixth.
The Gators accounted for the nightcap's final score as
Chris Schindler clubbed his first collegiate homer on an 0-1 pitch from CSUDH reliever Danny Torres after
Nic Gauldin got aboard through a fielder's choice.
Toro starter David Fair (4-6) pocketed the victory after allowing just one run on five hits in five innings, while his SF State counterpart
Doug Stinson (0-3) surrendered six runs on six hits and two walks in 2 2/3 innings before giving way to a pair of relievers.
Will Klein had two of the Purple and Gold's six hits, while Keener, Leyva (two RBI), Max Anderson (two hits) and Danny Haley (three runs) paced the CSUDH offense.
