SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco State baseball team won both ends of a Saturday double-header in dramatic fashion. They took game one 5-2 behind solid pitching from Gary Grosjean. In a wild back-and-forth game two, AJ Schrader hit a walk-off home run to give the Gators a 13-12 victory.
- SF State improves to 16-23 and 11-20 in CCAA action while Stanislaus State falls to 12-28 and 10-25 in the CCAA.
- The walk-off was the third one this season.
- Nicholas Hughes went a perfect 3-for-3 in game two with his first multi-hit game.
- Sage Pera made his first career start in game one and scored a run.
- Gators had three stolen bases on the day.
In a well pitched game by both sides, the Gators finally broke through in the fourth when a throwing error allowed
Nick Upstill to score. With one out in the sixth,
Gavin Mancha singled in the infield to add a run.
An error allowed
Luke O'Brien to reach base and and
Richie Rios to score.
AJ Schrader pinch hit and drew a walk with bases loaded to give the Gator's a 4-0 lead in the sixth.
Stanislaus State got on the board in the top of the seventh. The Gators responded with a Sac Fly in the bottom of the inning to reclaim the four run lead.
After allowing two baserunners on with one out in the ninth, Grosjean's day was done.
Mitch Hofer walked a batter before
Mario Vargas made his way on the mound. Vargas walked the first batter he faced but retired the next two to end the game.
Game two featured several crooked numbers being put up between both teams.
Luke O'Brien singled to second to bring in the first runner of the game in the bottom of the second.
Nicholas Hughes hit his first career double to bring
Gavin Mancha in.
Michael Cunningham hit an RBI single to short stop, drew a double steal to allow Hughes to steal home and came home safely thanks to an RBI single from
Nick Upstill for the Gators fifth run.
The Gator's lead was short lived as the Warrior put up four runs in the third and six in the fourth inning. In the fourth, the Warriors took advantage of free bases with the first five batters reaching due to a walk or hit by pitch.
With two runners on,
Sammy Gonzales hit a double to clear the bases in the bottom of the fourth.
Mancha hit a two-run RBI single to cut the lead to 10-9. In the bottom of the fifth, Schrader drew an RBI walk to tie the game.
A wild pitch plated two more runners for the Gators in the fifth. The Warriors took advantage of a wild pitch in the sixth to tie the game 12-12.
Justice Naraghi came in the seventh and kept the Warriors off the board, setting the stage for the walk-off in the bottom of the inning.
The Gators play their series finale tomorrow. Game starts Sunday, April 24 at noon. The games will be broadcast on the CCAA Network with live stats available at sfstategators.com. Updates will also be available on Twitter at @sfstatebaseball.
