CHICO, Calif- Sonoma State scored four runs in the ninth inning to come from behind and beat Chico State, 8-5 on Saturday afternoon at Nettleton Stadium in Chico.
Kyle Jones had the go-ahead RBI single and
Konrad Thieme put the game out of reach with a two-run homer as the Seawolves establish a new school record with their 23rd consecutive win. The second-ranked Seawolves improve to 29-1, 16-0 CCAA. The 16th-ranked Wildcats fall to 21-9, 10-7 CCAA.
The win allows the Seawolves to better their school record for consecutive wins, set last season. SSU has not lost a game since a one-run extra-inning loss to Cal State Stanislaus on February 15th. At 29-1, the Seawolves are off to their best start in school history.
Tied at three, the Seawolves went ahead in the sixth inning on a
Nick Nosti run-scoring single. The score would stay 4-3 until the bottom of the eighth when Chico rallied for a pair. Cody Dee and Travis DeCoito drove in runs off SSU's
Travis Babin to put the Wildcats up, 5-4. Babin was relieved by
Morgan Rodriguez who got Jimmy Dodos to foul out and end the inning.
On to the ninth, the Seawolves put their leadoff hitter,
Kris Haycock on. After an out, Haycock went to third on a single by
Mark Pestorich. He was then able to score on a softly hit ground ball to shortstop by
Ian Bridges. With two out and the score tied, freshman
Kyle Jones singled up the middle to score Pestorich from second and give the Seawolves a 6-5 lead. The next batter,
Konrad Thieme, put an exclamation point on the rally with a towering homer to left field, his team-high seventh of the season.
Rodriguez stayed in the game and closed the door with a 1-2-3 ninth inning to preserve the Sonoma State winning streak.
Nosti led the Seawolves with three hits.
Dave Herman was 2-for-5 with two runs scored and
Konrad Thieme scored twice in addition to his two-run ninth inning homer.
Matt Garnett pitched well in relief of starter
Rashad Tucker, allowing no runs in four innings. Rodriguez earned the win and improved to 1-0 on the year.
Bret Ringer led the Wildcats with three hits. Kyle Woodruff was tagged with the loss after a tough ninth inning.
The Seawolves have now taken the first two games in the series and will go for the sweep tomorrow when the teams come to Seawolf Diamond for a doubleheader.
Box Score
