Baseball | 4/25/2016 1:43:00 PM

SAN FRANCISCO--  The SF State Gators will begin a five-game home stand this Tuesday, April 26 at 2pm when they host the Vulcans of the University of Hawai'i-Hilo in a non-conference game.  SF State will then host Chico State in a four-game series this weekend beginning at 3pm this Friday, April 29.  This a season ending stretch of games that the Gators will be home 7 of their final 10 games of the regular season.

The Gators are currently 18-20 overall and 11-16 in the CCAA after going 2-3 in their five games last week.  They started the week with a 6-2 loss last Wednesday at home to Cal State East Bay.  Ryan Burke went 4-for-4 to lead the Gators' offensive attack with Dalton Pizzuti and Bryce Brooks each with two hits apiece.  Five Gator relievers in Nathan Pisciotta, Brett Elgin, Shane Martin, Dylan Bell and Alex Navarrete pitched 8 innings, giving up 5 hits, two runs and walked three.

SF State then split its four-game series with Stanislaus State over this past weekend losing both of the games in Turlock and swept a home doubleheader from the Warriors.  The Gators opened up with a 2-1 loss in Turlock on Friday as Ulices Moreno pitched 5.2 innings, giving up 7 hits, one run and striking out four.  Brooks scored the Gators' run on a single by Burke.

In the doubleheader sweep over Stanislaus State at home on Saturday, the Gators received outstanding pitching outings from Ryan Bohnet, Brent Montgomery and Dillon Houser to key the sweep.  SF State won the opener on Saturday 3-2 as the Gators scored two runs in the bottom of second on no hits.  Burke had three of the Gators' 7 hits and scored the game-winning run.  Bohnet (2-2) pitched 8 innings, giving up 6 this, two runs, walking one and striking out 5.  Montgomery came on in the ninth and pitched a scoreless ninth en route to his first save as a Gator.

In the night cap on Saturday, Houser pitched a two-hit complete game shutout as he improved to 4-3 on the season.  Myles Franklin scored the game's only run on a pinch-hit single by Chad Thurston.  Then in the series finale on Sunday, the Gators were blanked by Stanislaus State 5-0 with Reyes recording the loss in the start.  Logan Marston had two of SF State's five hits on the day.

For the season, SF State is batting .262 while the Gators have a team earned run average of 3.90. Four Gators have posted a .300 or better batting average in Franklin (.333), Brooks (.329), Marston (.311) and Burke (.300).  Franklin also leads the team in runs scored (27), doubles (9), triples (2), runs batted in (18), slugging percentage (.467) and on-base percentage (.423).  Brooks has a team leading 46 hits while Chris Nicholson has hit four of the Gators' 13 home runs this season.    Jackson leads the team with his 14 stolen bases with Franklin behind him at 10 followed by Brooks at 6.  Bohnet leads the Gators' pitching staff with his team low 2.84 earned run average.  He also has struck out a team leading 33 batters in a team high 44.1 innings pitched.  Houser and Montgomery lead the team with their four victories and Reyes has recorded two of the Gators' 6 saves on the season.

In the latest CCAA statistics report, four Gators are in the top ten in four categories.  Jackson is tied for fourth in stolen bases and tied for 10^th in sacrifice hits.  Jake Faulkner is tied for 7^th in hit by pitches while Montgomery and Houser are tied for 10^th in victories. 

The Gators are in fifth place in the CCAA North Division, 4.5 games out of third place which is currently held by Cal State East Bay.  The top three teams in each of the two divisions will receive a bid to the CCAA Baseball Championships, May 11-14 in Stockton, Calif.   

SF State will first face Hawai'i-Hilo in a non-conference game tomorrow afternoon beginning at 2pm at Maloney Field.  The Vulcans are 7-30 on the season including going 6-26 in the PacWest Conference.  They are batting .244 as a team and have a team earned run average of 5.44.  Phillip Steering leads the team with his .321 batting average, .512 slugging percentage, 9 doubles and .430 on-base percentage.  He is tied with Jonathan Segovia with two triples and with Sean Nearhoff with one home run.  Other team offensive leaders are:  Michael Jenkerson (36 hits, 7 stolen bases), Jacob Grijalva (17 runs batted in) and Kyle Yamada (18 runs scored).  David Moody has recorded three of the Vulcans' 7 wins and Eric Vega has a team low 3.02 earned run average while Jordan Kurokawa has struck out a team high 58 batters. 

SF State will then entertain Chico State this weekend in a four-game series at Maloney Field.  The two teams will place a single game at 3pm this Friday, April 29.  They will then play a doubleheader on Saturday at noon and conclude the series this Sunday with a single game at noon.

The Wildcats are in first place in the CCAA North Division with their 18-12 conference record after going 3-1 against Sonoma State this past weekend at home.  They are 28-14 overall and are 5-5 in their last 10 games. 
Chico State has a .321 team batting average with a 3.76 team earned run average.  Nine Wildcats have a batting average of .300 or higher lead by Ben Gamba and Sonny Cortez each at .373.  Cortez leads the team with his 54 runs scored and 63 hits while Gamba has a team leading four home runs and 50 runs batted in.  Gambe is tied with Cameron Santos each with 11 doubles while Cameron Santos has team leading 7 triples and 19 stolen bases.  Clayton Gelfand leads their pitching staff with his 2.11 earned run average, 7 victories, 73 strikeouts and 81 innings pitched. 

CCAA Standings

Live Stats Link to All 5 Games
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