STOCKTON, Calif. — The wind was blowing out at Banner Island Ballpark for the first game of the CCAA Championships on Wednesday but the San Francisco State baseball team found itself on the short end of slug fest, falling 14-11 to top seed Cal State Monterey Bay.
Jackson Kritsch's three-run shot in the second gave the Gators a 4-3 lead. In the third, Kritsch added a two-run single and
Chris Smutny's single chased Otters starter Greg Steinbeck.
Harley Lopez's two-out single off of Alex Zarate extended the lead to 7-3.
A lack of shutdown innings proved costly though. The Otters kept it close with a Hayden Duer two-run homer in the bottom of the third and went ahead 8-7 with a three-run fourth that chased Gators starter
Jeff Piver.
In the fifth, the Gators stormed back. A pair of singles and a hit by pitch loaded the bases for
Chris Smutny, who singled back up the middle to tie the game at 8-8.
Brady Dorn added a sacrifice fly to put San Francisco State back up, 9-8.
Jack Harris led off the top of the sixth with a towering homer to right that grew the lead to 10-8.
Senior
Dillon Houser (6-4) pitched the Gators through two perfect innings of relief but ran into trouble in the seventh. TJ Dove homered to cut the lead to 10-9. Houser issued an intentional walk to load the bases and gave up a single to center that tied it, then a sacrifice fly that put the Otters in front for good. Jordan Eglite surrendered two more runs before
Daniel Jimenez ended the inning. Duer added his second homer, a shot to left center, off of
Jordan Yrastorza in the eighth.
The Gators got on the board first thanks to an Otters error.
Trevor Rogers took advantage with a two-out single to right field that scored Lopez. Jacob Tonascia erased the Gators lead in the bottom half of the inning with a three-run shot, the first of five homers in the game.
Kritsch, who was named to the All-CCAA Second Team on Tuesday, added a sacrifice fly in the ninth that scored pinch-hitter
Connor Fidone, who reached on a leadoff walk. Kritsch went 4-for-5 with six RBIs, two runs, and the homer. Lopez, an All-CCAA Honorable Mention, went 3-for-5 on the day with a run and an RBI. Jeffrey Ahern (5-1) threw four innings of relief for the Otters and picked up the win.
On Deck
The Gators will play their second game of the tournament on Thursday, May 10 at 11 a.m. The San Francisco State will face the loser of the UC San Diego and Cal State LA game. Check for in-game updates on Twitter and Instagram at @sfstatebaseball. Also, be sure to like
SF State Baseball on Facebook.
