SAN FRANCISCO — The CCAA series between the San Francisco State and Cal State Monterey Bay baseball teams lived up to the hype but, in the end, the visiting Otters got the better of the Gators. The final game of the series came down to the final pitch, which the Gators dropped 5-4.
With the Otters taking the series 3-1, SF State stands at 21-11-1 overall and at third place in the CCAA at 19-11. The Otters are 27-18 overall and in second place at 25-14.
- Jack Harris was a double shy of the cycle. The junior cranked his sixth home run of the season.
- The Gators bullpen did not allow a run.
- The Golden Gators are the No. 4 team in the latest NCBWA West Region poll.
- Saturday was Vs. Cancer Day for SF State Baseball. The Gators have teamed up with the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation's Vs. Cancer program to change this and are more than halfway to their $3,000 goal. Visit sfstategators.com/vscancer to help support the team's fundraising efforts.
- Harris gave the Gators the early lead in the third with a two-out solo shot.
- Jordyn Eglite failed to get a shutdown inning and three sharp Otters singles gave the Otters a 2-1 lead in the fourth.
- A leadoff walk in the fifth led to the first of three Otters runs in the frame.
- The Gators got a run back in the fifth. Jason Hare doubled and scored on Harris' two-out, full-count triple down the left field line.
- Pinch-hitter Jonah Gonzales led off the seventh with a walk, Hare singled, Trevor Rogers walked, and Harris plated a run with a sac fly. Hare scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-4 but the Gators stranded pinch runner Justin Cooney-Sylk at third with one out.
- A costly baserunning error in the eighth ended a potential rally. Brady Dorn singled. Antone Self fouled out down the right field line but Dorn was on halfway between second and third before he realized that he needed to get back and was doubled off easily.
- The Gators loaded the bases in the ninth. Jonah Gonzales singled but didn't tag on a Hare fly out. Pinch hitter Riley Cleary walked, and Jackson Kritsch reached on an error but Collin Gabel struck out swinging to end the game.
- Eglite (4-3) went five innings for the Gators. He struck out seven but allowed all five runs. He was perfect through the first three innings and struck out the side in the third. He ran into trouble in the fourth when he allowed two runs, then three more in the fifth.
- The Gators bullpen kept the Gators in the game. Sebastian Selway struck out a pair, although he walked a batter and then threw two failed pickoffs that moved the runner at third.
- Nate Jenkins got a strikeout to get the Gators out of the sixth. He got two quick outs in the eighth then issued a pair of walks but tightroped out it with a fly ball out.
- Caden Childress struck out one of and allowed a hit in two thirds of an inning and Daniel Jimenez got a strikeout to end the inning.
- Ethan McRae (5-6) struck out nine over six innings for the Otters. He allowed two runs on five hits. Sean McClure allowed two runs on one hit in the seventh and did not record an out. Parker Fokken earned the save for the Otters with three innings of two-hit ball.
Next weekend is another important CCAA matchup. The four-game set pits the third-place Gators against the fourth-place Warriors of Stanislaus State, April 26-28 in Turlock, California. Be sure to follow San Francisco State baseball on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook at @sfstatebaseball.
