SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco State baseball team won its rain-soaked and shortened home opener, 6-3 in seven innings, over visiting Concordia Portland. With rain wreaking havoc all weekend, the three-game series was shortened to just the one game.
- The game lasted just two hours and thirty-four minutes, with 1:17 played on Friday and another 1:17 played on Saturday, despite rain delays that saw the game span over 24 hours in real time.
- Sophomore Joshua Romero picked his first career win with three shutout innings.
- Harley Lopez carried over his All-CCAA season by going 2-for-3 with a homer and a pair of RBIs in the season opener.
Jordyn Eglite made the start for the Gators and surrendered a two-out rally in the top of the first inning that saw the Cavaliers (2-3) grab a 3-0 lead. After being held hitless through the first two innings, the Gators turned to small ball to get something going. Jasone Hare was hit on the first pitch off the inning and moved up 90 feet on
David Mansell's sacrifice bunt.
Jackson Kritsch flew out to left but
Harley Lopez kept the inning alive with a full-count walk. Shortstop
Brady Dorn drove the Gators' first run of the season home with an RBI single, then the Gators tied it on a two-run single off the bat of
Riley Cleary.
Trevor Rogers followed with a double down the right field line, which scored Cleary and gave the Gators a 4-3 lead.
Romero took the mound in the fourth for the Gators. The first two Cavaliers batters reached based and Romero recorded one out before play was halted. Play resumed on Saturday morning and Romero worked out of the jam and tossed two more scoreless innings after that.
Lopez doubled home a run in the fourth and cranked the Gators' first homer of the season in the seventh to make it 6-3.
Daniel Jimenez worked a scoreless seventh.
The deluge reappeared in the eighth inning. With two outs in the top of the eighth, the Gators made two errors on one play, which led to pair of Cavaliers runs that cut the lead to 6-5. However, the rain came down harder and harder and play was halted, and eventually called. With the inning not yet completed, the game went final after seven innings of action.
The Gators are hoping to play Simpson on Tuesday, February 12, though rain remains in the forecast. That non-conference series was originally scheduled for February 5 and would've been the Gators' season opener. Conference play begins next weekend with a split series versus Sonoma State. The Gators will play in Rohnert Park on Friday and Sunday and will host a Saturday doubleheader at 11 a.m. on Saturday, February 16.
