FRESNO – Behind the stellar performance of Josh Medeles (1-0), the Fresno Pacific Sunbirds took game one of this weekend's three game series with the visiting SF State Gators 5-2 at the FPU Diamond in Fresno.
"Tough loss against a very good left-handed pitcher from Fresno Pacific," said SF State head coach
Tony Schifano. "We hit some balls hard early but he settled in and pitched a good game." "I was very happy with our effort on the mound and FPU did a good job taking advantage of our sloppy defense."
SF State's pitching quartet of
Ryan Bohnet,
Ulices Moreno,
Brent Montgomery and
Jackson Gentes gave up just four hits between them, striking out 7, walking five while giving up five runs of which only one was earned.
Bohnet (0-1) suffered the loss in the start for the Gators, giving up just three hits, three runs (one earned), striking out 5 and walking two in 5.1 innings of work.
With two outs in the bottom of the first, Preston Scott hit a triple down the right field line for the Sunbirds and scored when Hunter Villanueva reached on a throwing error.
SF State (2-2) tied the game at 1-1 in its half of the fourth inning when the Gators took advanced of two errors by the Sunbirds.
Bryce Brooks walked with one out and stole second, but then was picked off at second.
Chad Thurston reached first with two outs on a fielding error by the hosts. Thurston scored when
Carter Gambrell reached on a three-base error by the Sunbirds to tie the game at 1-1.
Fresno Pacific retook the lead in its half of the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Nick Pate which brought in Villanueva with the go-head run. Villanueva had a lead-off walk, stole second and went to third on an errant throw. He then scored on Pate's sacrifice fly to center field to give Fresno Pacific a 2-1 lead.
The Gators came back in the sixth inning to tie the game at 2-2.
Joe Chedid had a lead-off single, went to second when Brooks walked. Both runners advanced a base on a sacrifice by Thurston. With one out and runners at second and third, Gambrell drove home Chedid with a single to center field to tie the game at 2-2. Medeles induced the next Gator to ground into an inning ending double play to preserve the 2-2 tie.
The Sunbirds (3-3) took the lead for good in their half of the sixth. Davy Vartanian had a lead-off single advanced to second on a wild pitch. He went to third when Scott grounded out and scored when Villanueva reached base on a fielder's choice to give Fresno Pacific a 3-2 lead.
Fresno Pacific added two insurance runs in the seventh inning to increase its lead to 5-2.
The Gators could only manage only one runner to reach base in the final three innings off of Medeles as he earned the complete game victory. The Sunbird pitcher gave up just three hits, two runs (one earned), striking out 9 and walking four in nine innings.
The two teams will finish the three-game series tomorrow morning with a 11am starting non-conference doubleheader at the FPU Diamond in Fresno.
Box Score PDFBox Score HTML About San Francisco State AthleticsGator 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.
