SAN FRANCISCO-- The SF State Gators recorded two walk-off victories this afternoon as they swept the visiting Cal State L.A. Golden Eagles 8-7 in ten innings and 3-2 in a CCAA doubleheader at Maloney Field.
Nick Jackson drove in
Andrew Breen with a two-out single in the bottom of the tenth in the opener. Then in the night cap,
Logan Marston singled home
Joe Chedid with the game-winner in the ninth.
"It was two hard fought games that came down to the last swing in both games," said SF State head coach
Tony Schifano. "(Matthew) Hernandez battled through 6 innings and (Ulices) Moreno gave us 7 strong innings," added Schifano. With (Ryan) Bohnet out this weekend, those two performances were essential."
The Golden Eagles (6-20, 5-10 CCAA) took a 1-0 lead in game one in the first inning on a sacrifice fly by Paul Martinez which brought in Dakota Hernandez who reached with one out on a hit batsmen.
SF State came right back and took a 3-1 lead in its half of the first inning.
Nick Jackson had a lead-off single and stole his fifth base of the season. He advanced to third on a ground out by
Myles Franklin, and then scored on a
Joe Chedid triple. Chedid scored on a double by
Dalton Pizzuti, and then Pizzuti scored on a double by
Carter Gambrell to give the Gators a 3-1 lead.
Cal State L.A. tied the game at 3-3 with a two-run second inning capped by a Ryan Welker two-out single which brought in Christopher Flores which tied the game at 3-3. Flores drove in Isaac Dominguez with a double earlier in the inning cut into the Gator lead.
The Gators took a 5-3 lead with a two-run third inning. Franklin and Chedid lead off the inning with back to back singles, which put runners on the corners. Franklin scored on a sacrifice fly by Pizzuti. Gambrell singled Chedid to third with one out. Chedid scored on a single by
Chris Nicholson to give the Gators a 5-3 lead. SF State added two more runs in the fifth inning. Franklin had a lead-off single and went to second on a single by Chedid, who advanced to second on the throw. Pizzuti doubled home both Gator runners to increase the Gator lead to 7-3.
The game remained 7-3 Gators until the Golden Eagle eighth inning. The visitors tied the game at 7-7 with a four-run inning capped by a two-out single by Hernandez which scored Flores. It looked like the Golden Eagles were going to take the lead in the ninth, but Gators' reliever
Brent Montgomery stranded two Golden Eagles on base. The Gators did not score in their half of the ninth. Montgomery shut Cal State L.A. down in order in the top of the tenth inning to set up the heroics for Jackson.
Nicholson had a lead-off single and then was out at second when Conner Fraser reached on a fielder's choice.
Andrew Breen came in to pinch run for Fraser at first. Breen then stole second, his third of the season. With the count 2-1 and two outs, Jackson lined a shot up the middle which brought in Breen with the game-winner.
Matthew Hernandez recorded the no-decision in the start for SF State. He pitched 6 innings, giving up 6 hits, three runs, walking two and striking out two. Montgomery (4-0) picked up the win in relief, pitching three innings giving up three hits, one run, striking out one and walking one.
SF State pounded out a season high 14 hits led by Chedid's 3-for-3 day. Five other Gators had two hits apiece in Jackson, Franklin, Pizzuti, Gambrell and Nicholson. Pizzuti also drove in a career high four runs and Chedid scored three times.
Gabriel Gentner (0-2) recorded the loss for Cal State L.A., pitching 2.1 innings, giving up two hits and one run, striking out two and walking two. Martinez and Dominguez each had two hits with Flores driving two runs.
In the night cap, it was a pitching duel between the Gators'
Ulices Moreno and the Golden Eagles' Daniel Diaz. Moreno went 7 innings, giving up 6 hits and no runs while striking out three and walking two in his first start of the season while recording the no-decision. Diaz, who also had the no-decision, pitched 8 innings, giving up 6 hits and one unearned run and striking out four.
The game was scoreless until the Gator seventh. Franklin, who finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored, had a lead-off single. He went to second on a sacrifice by Chedid. The Gator outfielder advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on an errant throw by the Golden Eagles to give SF State a 1-0 lead.
The Golden Eagles came right back with two-run eighth to take a 2-1 lead. Hernandez had a one-out triple, scored on a one-out single by Christian Broussard. Broussared advanced to second on a two-out single by Martinez and scored on a single by Dominguez to give Cal State L.A. a 2-1 lead.
The score remained 2-1 Golden Eagles until the bottom of the ninth. Franklin had a lead-off single, went to second when Chedid walked.
Ryan Burke drove home Franklin with a single up the middle to tie the game at 1-1. Still with no outs, Nicholson had a bunt single to load the bases for
Logan Marston who delivered with a single to left center which brought in Chedid with the game-winning run.
Each team managed 10 hits in the night cap, Franklin's 3-for-4 performance led the way for the Gators while Hernandez had three hits for the Golden Eagles. Ryan Dixon (0-3) picked up the loss in relief for Cal State L.A while
Dylan Bell (1-1) recorded the win for SF State, pitching 1.1 innings of scoreless relief,.
"'I'm very proud of our fight and we showed character to give up leads and fight back two win both," added the first-year skipper.
SF State (11-12, 5-8 CCAA) will look for the series sweep as the two teams will conclude the three-game weekend series with a noon starting nine-inning game tomorrow at Maloney Field.
Box Score Game OneBox Score Game Two -----
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.
