OAKLAND– The SF State Gators completed the three-game series sweep of crosstown foe, Academy of Art, this afternoon with a 7-5 victory at Laney College's Field of Dreams.  The Gators improved to 5-4 with the sweep with Joe Chedid picking up the win and Brett Elgin recording his first save in the purple and gold. 

"All hands on deck kind of game," said SF State head coach Tony Schifano.  "(Conner) Fraser and (Andrew) Breen turned two tremendous double plays to keep us in the game."  "It is a good series sweep versus a good program."

Nick Jackson started the game with a single up the middle on the third pitch he saw.  The junior outfielder then stole his fourth base of the season.  Chad Thurston and Chris Nicholson each reached base on hit by pitches to load the bases with no outs.  Bryce Brooks hit the first pitch he saw for a two-run single to left center which drove in Jackson and Thurston with the game's first runs.  With one out, Logan Marston singled to left field to drive in Nicholson.  Then Mike Phelan drove in Brooks with the inning's final run on a sacrifice fly as the Gators took a 4-0 lead.

Academy of Art made it a game with a three-run second inning.  Tyler Strawn had a lead-off single, went to second when Zack Trueblood walked.  Strawn scored on a double to left field by Brett Adams.  Still with no outs, Greg Ivory drove home Trueblood with a single through the right side.  Adams scored on a ground out by Takis Thayer as the Urban Knights cut their deficit to 4-3.  Gator starter Joe Chedid (1-0) induced the final two outs of the inning on a strike out and foul out to left field as the visitors still had the lead (4-3).

The hosts tied the score in their half of the fourth inning.  Ivory had a lead-off walk, went to third on a single by Thayer.  He scored on a fielder's choice by Cody Edmunds to tie the score at 4-4 heading into the fifth inning.  

SF State retook the lead for good on a fielder's choice by Phelan which scored Brooks with the go-ahead run.  Brooks reached base on a lead-off single, went to second on a single by Connor Fraser.  The Gator infielder advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Marston.  He then scored on the fielder's choice by Phelan to give the visitors a 5-4 lead.

The Urban Knights would not go away as in their half of the sixth inning they had a really going.  Adams had a lead-off walk, went to second on a balk.  Then Ivory walked which then brought in Ulices Moreno to pitch for the Gators.  He induced the next batter to strike out.  Adams and Ivory each advanced a base on a passed ball.  Edmonds reached on a fielder's choice, which Fraser threw out Adams trying to score at home.  Moreno induced the final out on a ground out to Fraser at third. 

The Gators added another run in the seventh when Marston reached on a one-out fielding error by the hosts.  Ryan Taylor came in to pinch run for Marston and scored on a double by Myles Franklin as SF State increased its lead to 6-4.

Academy of Art (3-7) cut the Gator lead in half in its half of the seventh on a Strawn run scoring single up the middle which brought in Payton Milone.  Milone reached base on error by the Gators, went to second when Erick Luna walked and scored on Strawn's single to cut into the Gator lead, 6-5.

SF State (5-4) came right back and manufactured its seventh and final run of the game.  Jackson led off the top of the eighth inning reaching base on a hit batsman.  He went to second on a wild pitch, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Thurston.  The San Jose native scored on a failed pick-off attempt by the Urban Knights to increase the Gator lead to 7-5.

Peter Reyes came in relief of Ulices Moreno in the Urban Knight eighth and retired the hosts in order.  In the Gator ninth, they were also retired in order as the score remained 7-5 SF State.  The Urban Knights made it interesting in the ninth.  Joseph Marchiani had a lead-off single, went to second on a single by Milone.  Luna reached base on an error by the Gators to load the bases with no one out.  Brett Elgin came into pitch for Reyes and induced the next batter to fly out to Alex Kotheimer in left field.  Then with the count 0-1, Elgin induced a game ending double play that went from Fraser to Andrew Breen to Thurston as the Gators won the series finale 7-5 and took the series sweep.

Chedid (1-0) picked up the win in the start for SF State, pitching 5 innings, giving up 5 hits and four runs, striking out two and walking three.  Moreno pitched two innings of relief for the Gators, giving up one hit and one unearned run, striking out one and walking one.  Reyes pitched one inning of relief, giving up two hits and striking out two while Elgin recorded his first save as a Gator, pitching the final scoreless inning. 
Josh Lopez (1-1) recorded the loss for the Urban Knights, who were coming off a series win over Chico State and a win at Sonoma State. 

The Gators pounded out 10 hits of which three came off the bat of Brooks and two from Fraser.  Brooks also drove in two runs and scored twice while Jackson scored twice and Phelan drove in two runs.

SF State will return home for its next four games.  The Gators will host Sonoma State this Tuesday, February 23 at 2pm in a non-conference game at Maloney Field.  They will then take on No. 11 Cal Poly Pomona in a three-game CCAA series beginning with a doubleheader at 11am this Saturday, February 27. 

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