Box Score SAN FRANCISCO – On Senior Day at The Swamp at Maloney Field, it was only fitting that a pair of seniors keyed the SF State Gators' regular season finale 5-3 victory over the Cal State East Bay Pioneers.
Dillon Meyer went 2-for-4 scoring two times including once on a three-run inside the park home run in the second inning.
Jack Veronin (4-3) picked up the win as he pitched 8 innings of 11-hit ball, giving up two runs and striking out three.
SF State (22-28, 17-23 CCAA) scored first in the second inning.
Matt Vera reached on a one-out single through the right side.
Danny Souza reached on a catcher's interference to put runners on first and second. Then with two outs and the count 1-0, Meyer hit a ball down the right field line for a three-run inside-the-park home run to give the Gators a 3-0 lead. This was Meyer's first home run of his collegiate career at SF State.
The Pioneers came right back with a run in the third. Marcus Williams had a lead-off double to right center and stole his third base of the year. Williams score on a sacrifice fly by Zac Chuvala to cut the Gator lead to 3-1.
The Gators added another run in the fourth inning on a
Fernando Escobar one-out triple to right center that brought in Vera to give the hosts a 4-1 lead. Vera reached on a lead-off single.
Cal State East Bay had a chance to cut into the Gator lead in the fifth inning. Kelly Starnes had a two-out double to left center. Then Ellis Stephney hit a single to center field, which Starnes tried to score on but Meyer gunned him down out at home to preserve the Gators' 4-1 lead.
The guests had another chance to cut into the Gator lead in the sixth inning. Jason Fletcher and Brandon Alexander had back to back lead-off singles. With one out, Daniel Carney singled down the right field line to load the bases. Veronin induced the next batter to foul out to
Garrett Heisinger at first for two outs. Then with the count 3-1, Williams hit a liner down to Escobar at third and the junior third baseman threw him out at first to end the scoring threat.
SF State added another insurance run in the seventh inning. Meyer had a lead-off single and came around to score on a two-out infield single by
Grady Espinosa to increase the Gator lead to 5-1.
The Pioneers, who are currently ranked sixth in the NCAA Division II West Region, made it interesting in the ninth. Carney had a lead-off home run to left field to cut the Gator lead to 5-2.
Cory Davis came on in relief for Veronin and gave up a solo home run to pinch hitter David Elzig. Davis then induced the next two batters to ground out to Escobar at third and fly out to Meyer in centerfield. Starnes then singled on a full count with two outs. Davis then struck out the final Pioneer batter out to preserve the Gators' 5-3 win.
Michael Pole (4-5) recorded the loss for the Pioneers, pitching 6 innings, giving up 8 hits and four runs (two earned), striking out four and walking one.
Starnes led the Pioneer hitting attack with three hits while four other Pioneers had two hits apiece in Stephney, Fletcher, Alexander and Carnel.
Veronin picked up the win for the Gators in his final game in the purple and gold. He pitched 8 innings, giving up 11 hits and two runs and struck out three. Davis recorded his 13
th save of the season, which ties him for the league lead with Luke Barker of Chico State. The junior reliever, pitched one inning, giving up two hits and one run while striking out one.
The Gators had 10 hits on the day with three batters each with two hits in Meyer, Vera and
Trevor Diskin.
The 22 wins by the Gators is the most since 2006. The 17 wins in the CCAA by SF State this season is the most since 2004 when the Gators won 21 conference games.
Senior Ceremony VideoBox Score
