BOX SCORE #24 Sonoma State 4, San Francisco State 2 (10 innings) -- Box Score

SAN FRANCISCO -- After trailing by two runs early on, the 24th-ranked Sonoma State baseball team rallied for four unanswered runs, two of which came in the top of the 10th inning, to knock off host San Francisco State on Friday afternoon at Maloney Field in San Francisco.  The Seawolves improved to 16-7 and 8-5 in the CCAA while the Gators fell to 9-16 and 6-11 in conference action.

San Francisco State would find itself with an early 1-0 lead, using small ball to score the game's first run in the bottom of the first inning.  With two outs, Grady Espinosa hit a two-out infield single, before stealing second base.  Miguel Flores walked to put runners on first and second with two outs, then Espinosa advanced to third on a wild pitch and stole home.

The Gators added to their lead in the third as AJ Almaraz led off the inning, reaching second on a two-base throwing error by the Seawolves.  He went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a single to right field by Joe Chedid to go up 2-0.

The score remained until the Seawolf sixth inning when Scott Harkin had a lead-off triple to open up the frame, scoring on Marcus Kimura's double down the left field line to cut the deficit in half.  Devon Zenn was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second with no outs, chasing Gator starter Ryan DeJesus from the ballgame.  Nolan Sheridan came on in relief and retired the next two SSU batters after Zenn was hit by a pitch to load the bases.  Nathan Bernstein was then walked to bring in Kimura to knot the game at 2-2.  Sheridan retired the next Seawolf as he induced an inning-ending fly out to left field off the bat of Shawn Walters.

The score remained knotted at two until Sonoma State's half of the tenth inning.  Zenn led off the inning with a single to right field and went to third on a double by Garrett Schwartz.  With one out, Zenn scored on a wild pitch to give the Seawolves a 3-2 lead.  Then with two outs, Steven Moen drove in Schwartz with an insurance run to increase Sonoma State's lead to 4-2.

SF State led off the bottom of the inning, reaching base on a hit batsman to Almaraz.  Then Dillon Meyer hit a line drive right back to SSU reliever Steven Zaharias, who then doubled up Almaraz up at first.  Zaharias then retired the next Gator batter on a ground out to preserve the 4-2 come-from-behind win by Sonoma State.

Zaharaias (1-1) recorded the win in relief for Sonoma State, pitching three scoreless innings of relief, giving up just one hit and striking out one.  George Asmus had the no-decision for SSU, tossing seven innings, giving up five hits and two runs (one earned) while striking out four and walking one.

Offensively, the Seawolves were lead by Schwartz's 2-for-4 effort at the plate with a run scored.  Five other SSU players recorded on hit, totaling seven on Friday afternoon.

Meanwhile, SF State had six hits on the day, led by Chedid's 2-for-5 performance.  DeJesus went five innings, giving up three hits and two runs while striking out one and walking two.  Sheridan pitched three innings of relief, giving up one hit and walking three.  Peter Reyes (1-3) was tagged with the loss in relief for SF State, pitching two innings, giving up three hits and two runs while striking out two and walking one.

The four-game series now shifts to Seawolf Diamond in Rohnert Park on Saturday for games two and three, as the doubleheader is set to begin at 11:00 a.m.  The series then wraps up back at Maloney Field in San Francisco on Sunday with a single game, again set for 11:00 a.m.