BOX SCORE Box Score: San Francisco State 6, Sonoma State 5

SAN FRANCISCO -- Garrett Gooselaw's double in the top of the ninth inning brought home the go-ahead run to give Sonoma State the 5-4 lead, but with two outs in its half of the ninth, San Francisco State tied the game on an RBI double by Mark Lindsay.  A couple of pitches later, SSU catcher Joel Thys threw down to second to try and pick Lindsay off, but the ball squirted through the infielders, allowing Lindsay to come around and score the game-winning run under the tag of Thys, sending the Gators into celebration with the 6-5 win over the Seawolves on Saturday at Maloney Field in San Francisco.

Sonoma State falls to 12-8 this season and head coach John Goelz still remains just one win away from 900 career victories (899-567-5).  San Francisco State, coming off a win over Division I Nevada on Wednesday, improves to 10-8.

Going on record as a non-conference game between the two Bay Area teams, both Sonoma State and San Francisco State battled from start to finish as if the conference title was on the line.  It was the visiting Seawolves to draw first blood; a three-run fourth inning, spearheaded by a walk and a pair of singles by Scott Templeton and Jeff Boulware to load the bases.  Justin Serrao was hit by the pitch to force home the first run of the day, then Jackson Stogner brought home Thys on a fielder's choice groundout to put SSU up by two.  Another groundout, this time by Evan Warner, resulted in Boulware coming around to score, giving the Seawolves a 3-0 lead.

Joshua Nervis, Ian Ocon and Thomas Lee combined to allow five San Francisco State hits through the first five innings, but the Gators rallied for four runs in the sixth inning off Paul Anaya to grab their first lead of the game at 4-3.  The lead would be shortlived, however, as back-to-back doubles by Gooselaw and Devon Zenn in the SSU seventh evened the score again, this time at 4-4.

In the top of the ninth, Warner led off with a double down the left field line, then stole third base one batter later.  Gooselaw delivered the go-ahead double and with just one out, SFSU elected to intentionally walk Zenn to create a force-out situation.  Gator reliever Peter Reyes came in and shut the door on the Seawolves, getting Jeff Johnson to strike out and Thys to groundout to end the inning.

With Goelz just three outs from No. 900, he called upon Michael Garber for the save opportunity.  Garber allowed an infield single to the leadoff hitter, A.J. Almarez, who then got to second base on a sacrifice bunt by A.J. Pianto.  Then, Garber got Miguel Flores to pop out to Zenn at first base for the second out of the inning.

It came down to Lindsay, and with Sonoma State just one strike away from the win, Lindsay ripped the game-tying double to left center field, scoring Almarez.  A couple of pitches later, Thys saw Lindsay holding a huge secondary lead, which drew the throw from Thys towards second base.  However, miscommunication before the SSU midfielders allowed the throw to go into center field, thrusting Lindsay into a sprint for third, then home.  Sonoma State recovered the ball and fired home to nail Lindsay at the plate, but Lindsay slid underneath the tag of Thys, helping San Francisco State to the 6-5 win.

Garber (2-1) suffers his first loss of the season, despite the fact that the game-winning run was unearned.  Gooselaw again paced the SSU offense with two doubles, an RBI and a run scored.  Zenn went 2 for 4 with an RBI and Jackson Stogner went 1 for 3 with an RBI.

Reyes (4-1) tossed just two-thirds of an inning, but was given the victory as the pitcher of record; his fourth of the year.  Lindsay went 3 for 5 with an RBI and two runs scored, including the game-winner in the ninth.

Sonoma State, which is on a two-week hiatus from CCAA play, will host Patten on Wednesday in a non-conference doubleheader at Seawolf Diamond.  First pitch is slated for 11:00 a.m.  After an off weekend next weekend, the Seawolves will then host CCAA-foe Cal Poly Pomona on Mar. 23-25 in a four-game series in Rohnert Park.