Baseball | 4/20/2015 2:21:00 PM
SAN FRANCISCO – With just two weeks left in the regular season, the SF State Gators are still in the hunt for the last spots for the 2015 CCAA Baseball Championships May 7-10 in Stockton, Calif. The Gators are currently in sixth place with their 15-17 conference record three games out of fourth place (Cal State L.A. 18-14) and five games out of third place (Cal State Monterey Bay 20-12). Currently the top six teams in the CCAA are: 1.) Cal Poly Pomona 23-9, 2.) UC San Diego 24-11, 3.) Cal State Monterey Bay, 4.) Cal State L.A., 5.) Cal State Dominguez Hills 17-15 and 6.) SF State.
SF State will continue its six-game home stand this Friday, April 24 as the Gators begin a four-game home away series with Sonoma State with a single nine-inning game at 3pm at The Swamp at Maloney Field. After Friday's game, the series will move to Sonoma State's Seawolf Diamond in Rohnert Park for an 11am starting doubleheader. The series will move back to The Swamp at Maloney Field at SF State for the series finale this Sunday, April 26 at noon.
The Gators went 2-3 in their five home games last week including splitting their four-game conference series with Chico State. SF State won the series opener with Chico State on Friday 4-3 as
Peter Reyes (3-5) picked up the win in the start and
Cory Davis recorded his 7
th save of the season and 20
th of his career, which he currently holds the SF State record.
Chad Thurston was 3-for-4 driving in two of the Gators' four runs. Sophomore outfielder
Nick Jackson made a game-saving catch in the top of the 8
th with two outs and Wildcats on first and second. The catch was #2 on ESPN SportsCenter's Top 10 List that evening.
Link to catch.
On Saturday, SF State lost a pair of pitching duels 2-1 and 3-2 (9). In the opener,
Nolan Sheridan (3-4) pitched a complete game, giving up 10 hits, two runs (one earned), striking out one and walking one.
Garrett Heisinger had two of the Gators' six hits including a two-out single in the ninth for SF State's run. In the night cap,
Ryan Bohnet recorded the no-decision the start as he pitched 5.2 innings, giving up three hits, one run, striking out one and walking three. Davis (2-3) picked up the loss in relief, pitching the final 3.1 innings giving up four hits, two runs, striking out three and walking four. Heisinger and
Matt Vera each had two hits while Heisinger scored both of the Gators' runs.
The Gators won the series finale 7-4 as
Preston Tarter (3-4) picked up his first complete game victory. The senior right-handed pitcher gave up 9 hits, four runs (three earned), striking out three and walking no one.
Mark Lindsay and
Andrew Breen each had three hits to lead the Gator hitting attack. Lindsay drove in three runs and scored one and
Joseph Chedid scored twice for the victors.
With his three hits on Sunday, Lindsay now has 204 hits for his career which places him now behind SF State career hits leader Phil Kernan's 211. He also moved into ninth place on the Gator's walks list with 63 and is tied for 10
th with Phil Gaggero on the runs batted list with 82. Besides Davis and Lindsay in the Gator record books, Sheridan is also is in the top 10 in games pitched (9
th-42) and innings pitched (7
th-196.1).
SF State comes into its four-game series with Sonoma State with a 15-23 overall record including its 14-17 record in CCAA games. The Gators are batting .280 as a team with four players batting over .300 in Thurston (.362), Lindsay (.331), Jackson (.301) and
Jacob Lopez (.300). Lopez has driven in a team leading 23 runs and Jackson has scored a team high 26 runs. Both of them are tied for the Gator lead with 6 stolen bases. Lindsay leads the team with his 45 hits, 24 walks and .442 on-base percentage. Heisinger and
Bryce Cherry are tied for the Gator lead with 10 doubles with Cherry leading the team with his .425 slugging percentage and three triples.
Reyes and Sheridan each have three wins to lead the Gator pitchers with Davis posting a team low 3.27 earned run average with his 7 saves (which is tied for 5
th on the single season list at SF State). Bohnet leads the Gators' with his 31 strikeouts.
Sonoma State comes into this weekend's four-game series with the Gators with a 20-21 overall record including a 14-18 CCAA record. The Seawolves are in 8
th place in the conference after getting swept by Cal State Dominguez Hills. They are batting .263 as a team with 5 Seawolves batting over .300 in Alex Crosby (.354), Devin Alexander (.344), Cody Morris (.308), Steven Nagy (.308) and Steven Moen (.300). Jourdan Weiks leads the team with his 24 runs scored and 13 doubles with Crosby driving in a team leading 26 runs. He also leads the team with his 8 stolen bases, 51 hits, 26 runs batted in and three home runs.
Ryan Luna leads the Seawolf pitchers with his 2.31 earned run average and 60 strikeouts. Lunda and Bobby Raymos each have four wins to lead Sonoma State.
After this weekend, the Gators will have 5 games left in the regular season beginning with their non-conference game on April 28 at 2:30pm at Sonoma State. SF State will finish of its regular season with a four-game home series with No. 15 Cal Poly Pomona May 1-3 at The Swamp at Maloney Field. On Sunday, May 3 the Gators will recognize their 9 seniors at 10:45 am in
Cory Davis,
Fernando Escobar,
Will Hein,
Garrett Heisinger,
Mark Lindsay,
Ryan Romero,
Danny Souza,
Preston Tarter and
Matt Vera in a pre-game ceremony.
CCAA StandingsLive Stats Link for Friday/Sunday's GamesLive Stats Link for Saturday's Doubleheader---
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.
