Baseball | 3/1/2016 2:45:00 PM
CARSON– The SF State Gators will return to the diamond this weekend in Carson, Calif., for a three-game CCAA series with Cal State Dominguez Hills Toros. The Gators are coming off a three-game home CCAA series with then No. 25 Cal Poly Pomona, which the Broncos took two of the three games from SF State. The Gators enter this weekend with a 7-6 overall record and a 1-2 conference record.
SF State won the series opener with Cal Poly Pomona in dramatic fashion on Saturday afternoon. The Gators were trailing 3-0 after four innings. The Gators cut into the Bronco deficit when
Andrew Breen reached on a fielder's choice with one out went to second on a ground out. He then stole third and scored on a balk. SF State tied the game at 3-3 with a two-run seventh.
Carter Gambrell had a lead-off single, scored on a double by Breen. Then with one out, Breen scored on a double steal attempt by the Gators.
Cal Poly Pomona retook the lead, 4-3, with a run in the tenth. Then in the bottom of the tenth,
Chris Nicholson reached on a fielding error, went to second on a single by
Bryce Brooks. With two outs, Nicholson and Brooks advanced on a wild pitch. Then with the count 3-1,
Joe Chedid drove in tying run and go-ahead runs with a single through the left side to give the Gators the 5-4 victory.
Then in the second game of the series which took almost four hours and two days to play due to darkness, the Broncos won 7-4. The Gators took a 3-1 lead after three innings with
Logan Marston's one-out two-run single in the third giving the hosts a 3-1 advantage. Cal Poly Pomona came back and tied the game with two runs in the fifth, then took the lead for good with a three-run seventh. SF State scored its fourth run on a two-out single by
Chad Thurston in the ninth which scored
Alex Kotheimer.
In the series finale on Sunday, Cal Poly Pomona took a 5-0 lead after four innings. SF State cut the deficit to 5-2 on a pinch hit two-run single by
Ryan Burke which brought in
Jake Faulkner and Gambrell. The Broncos increased their lead to 9-2 with a four-run eighth inning. The Gators came back with a two-run eighth inning, but it wasn't enough as the Broncos took the series finale 9-4.
Going into their three-game series at Cal State Dominguez Hills this weekend, the Gators are batting .244 as a team while their pitching staff has a team earned run average of 2.84. Gambrell and Faulkner are leading the team with their respective .346 and .304 batting averages. Chedid leads the team with his .458 slugging percentage, six runs batted in, one home run and is tied with
Connor Fraser each with two doubles. Brooks leads the team with his 10 hits while Jackson has scored a team leading six runs and stolen a team high four bases. Faulkner leads the team with his .455 on-base percentage.
Ryan Bohnet has a team low 1.29 earned run average and also leads the team with his 20 strikeouts and just four walks in 21 innings.
Brent Montgomery has recorded two of the Gators' 7 wins with five other pitchers with one win apiece in
Nathan Pisciotta,
Ulices Moreno,
Dillon Houser,
Matthew Hernandez and Chedid.
Peter Reyes has recorded two of the Gators' three saves and
Brett Elgin has the other SF State save.
In this week's CCAA statistical report, the Gators 2.45 earned run average is fourth in the conference. Bohnet and Jackson are also in the top ten in the CCAA in earned run average (5
th) and stolen bases (10
th).
Cal State Dominguez Hills is coming off a 0-3 road trip at Sonoma State this past weekend. The Toros are 4-7 overall and 0-3 in the CCAA heading into their non-conference game at home against Westmont this afternoon. They are batting .258 as a team with a team earned run average of 5.18. Brandon Polizzi leads the way with his .435 batting average, 20 hits, 11 runs scored, three triples, .565 slugging percentage and .509 on-base percentage along with four stolen bases. He is tied with Nick Morelli and Parker Hokuf each with two doubles. Brady Conlan has hit the only home run for Cal State Dominguez Hills and is tied with Morelli each with 7 RBIs. Luke Laurita has a team low 3.06 earned run average while TyRay Gatewood has struck out a team leading 14 batters. Anthony Cortez has recorded two of the Toros' four victories this season.
After this weekend, the Gators will return to the diamond for a four-game home-away conference series with Cal State East Bay. The two teams will play the single games at SF State's Maloney Field on Friday and Sunday, March 11 and 13 at 2pm and noon respectively. The doubleheader will be on Saturday, March 12 at noon in Hayward.
Video PreviewLive Stats of Three-Game Series -----
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.
