Baseball | 4/13/2015 1:43:00 PM
SAN FRANCISCO – The SF State Gators' baseball team will begin a six-game home stand tomorrow afternoon at 3pm when they host Academy of Art in a non-conference game at The Swamp at Maloney Field. SF State will then host Chico State this weekend in a four-game conference series beginning this Friday, April 17 at 3pm. This week will be the beginning of a season ending stretch of games for the Gators of which 11 of their final 14 games are at home.
SF State (14-20, 13-15 CCAA) is coming off a 1-3 four-game road series at Cal State San Bernardino. In that series, the Gators batted .313 as a team with
Chad Thurston leading the way with his .600 batting average going 9-for-15 scoring five runs and driving in six runs. The red-shirt freshman also posted a .600 slugging and .556 on-base percentages.
Preston Tarter picked up the Gator win in their 4-3 series finale victory this past Sunday. Tarter (2-4) pitched five innings of six-hit ball, giving up two runs (one earned), striking out two and walking four.
Cory Davis recorded his 6
th save of the season by pitching the final four innings, giving up one hit and one unearned run, striking out a season high five batters and walking three.
The Gators are currently tied for 6
th in the CCAA with Cal State Dominguez Hills, one game out of fifth place (Sonoma State 14-14). The four teams at the end of the regular season on May 3 will receive a bid to the CCAA Baseball Championships May 7-10 at Klein Family Field in Stockton, Calif. Cal Poly Pomona currently holds the top spot with its 19-9 record with UC San Diego right behind them at 21-10. Cal State L.A. is third with its 18-10 record followed by Cal State Monterey Bay (20-12) with three weeks left in the regular season.
As a team, the Gators are batting .286 with four players batting over .300 in Thurston (.359),
Mark Lindsay (.352),
Nick Jackson (.333) and
Jacob Lopez (.308).
Bryce Cherry leads the team with his 10 doubles and three triples with Lopez driving in a team leading 22 runs. Cherry also leads the team with his .443 slugging percentage and Lindsay has posted a team high .459 on-base percentage. The senior catcher leads the Gators with his 43 hits and 21 walks. Jackson leads the Gators with his 25 runs scored and 6 stolen bases.
Nolan Sheridan leads the Gators' pitching staff with his 3-3 record with Davis and
Ryan Bohnet reach recorded a team leading 30 strikeouts. Sheridan also leads the team with his 59.2 innings pitched and
Shane Martin has a team low 2.70 earned run average. Davis has six of the team's 7 saves with Martin recording the other one.
In the recent CCAA statistics report that was released yesterday, nine Gators are in the top 10 in 8 categories. Lindsay leads the way as he is 6
th in on-base percentage, tied for 8
th in walks and 10
th in batting average. Cherry is second in triples and tied for 7
th in doubles.
Fernando Escobar,
Garrett Heisinger,
Danny Souza, Jackson and Lopez each have one triple which ties them for 10
th. Davis is tied for second in saves and tied for 9
th in appearances and Sheridan is tied for 6
th in innings pitched.
Three Gators have moved into the top ten in SF State career categories. Lindsay leads the way as he is second in hits (199), second in at bats (637), third in games played (178) and tied for 10
th in walks (60). Davis holds the Gator record with 19 saves with Sheridan being tied for 9
th in games pitched (41) and 9
th in innings pitched (187.1).
Academy of Art will be the Gators' first opponent this week as the Urban Knights come to The Swamp at Maloney Field tomorrow afternoon (Tuesday, April 14) for a non-conference game at 3pm. The Urban Knights are currently 6-31 after being swept in a four-game series at Fresno Pacific. They are 4-20 in the Pac West Conference. Academy of Art is batting .216 as a team with Joseph Marchini leading the way with his .302 average, 45 hits, 8 stolen bases, 6 doubles, 22 runs scored, three triples and three home runs. Nate Gercken leads the Urban Knights' pitching staff with his 4-6 record, 2.09 earned run average, 64 strikeouts and two complete game shutouts.
Chico State comes to San Francisco this weekend for a four-game series with the Gators. The series will begin this Friday, April 17 with a single nine-inning game at 3pm. The two teams will then play a noon starting doubleheader this Saturday, April 18. The series will conclude this Sunday, April 19 at 11am with another nine-inning game.
The Wildcats are currently 15-19 overall and 14-17 in the CCAA after splitting its four-game home series with Cal State Dominguez Hills this past weekend. They are in eighth place in the conference going into their Tuesday afternoon game at Cal State Stanislaus. Chico State is batting .247 as a team with four players batting over .300 in Dylan Garcia (.378), Andre Carrillo (.324), Clayton Gelfand (.320) and Connor Huesers (.315). Garcia also leads the team with his 21 runs scored, 45 hits, 10 doubles and 15 walks. Tyler Madrid has hit a team leading three home runs with Danny Miller driving in a team high 18 runs. Sam Smith leads Chico State with his 6 stolen bases.
Luke Barker's 1.43 earned run average leads the team along with a 4-1 record and a team leading 44 strikeouts in 63 innings pitched. Ryan O'Shea has six saves in 8 appearances while not allowing a run in 9 innings pitched. He also has 9 strikeouts and three walks and has allowed just one hit.
After this week, the Gators will have a home-away series with Sonoma State beginning on Friday, April 24 at 3pm at SF State.
CCAA StandingsLive Stats Link for All 5 Games---
Gator Athletics has a proud tradition of competitive success within the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The department offers 12 intercollegiate sports programs: Baseball, Men's and Women's Basketball, Men's and Women's Cross Country, Men's and Women's Soccer, Softball, Women's Track & Field, Women's Volleyball and Men's Wrestling.
Gator Athletics places great emphasis on academic performance as well as athletic achievement. The program offers student athletes the opportunity to reach their educational goals, as well pursue meaningful athletic accomplishments. For more information, visit SF State Athletics' website, Twitter and Facebook pages.
