BOX SCORE #23 Sonoma State 4, #7 Cal State Monterey Bay 1 -- Box Score  |  Archived Video Broadcast

Post-Game Press Conference

ST. GEORGE, Utah -- In his first start in three weeks, George Asmus proved that he never missed a beat.  The senior from Pleasanton, Calif., gave up just four hits and allowed one run while striking out seven, and Scott Harkin smashed a home run and earned the save on the mound to push the Sonoma State baseball team past Cal State Monterey Bay, 4-1, in an elimination game at the 2013 NCAA Division II West Regional on Saturday afternoon in St. George, Utah. 

The No. 2 seed Seawolves (36-21) move on to face No. 4 seed Grand Canyon (36-17) at 6:00 pm Pacific Time tonight in another elimination game.  The top-seed and seventh-ranked Otters (39-17) see their record-breaking season come to an end, leaving just three teams left in the regional.  The winner of SSU and GCU will play Chico State in Sunday's championship game.

In 45 minutes, Sonoma State will send senior left-hander Ian Ocon (1-3; 3.68 ERA) to the mound to face off with Grand Canyon right-hander Malcolm Purdy (2-0; 7.88 ERA).  First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 pm PDT (7:00 pm Mountain Time).  The winner will advance to play Chico State on Sunday in the championship game, while the loser will see its season come to an end.

Saturday evening's game between Sonoma State and Grand Canyon will be live on the Seawolf Sports Network at http://www.sonomaseawolves.com/live, starting at approximately 5:50 pm PDT.

Cal State Monterey Bay got off to a quick start in the top of the first inning, recording a pair of two-out hits before Asmus struckout David Garcia to end the inning.  From then on, Asmus would cruise, retiring the next 10 batters he faced. In fact, he allowed just one more hit the rest of the way.  The Otters' only run would come in the top of the fifth inning on an RBI groundout by Jesse Olson.

Meanwhile, the Seawolves scored a run in three consecutive innings -- the third, fourth and fifth -- to lead 3-1.  In the third, Jackson Stogner scored Scott Harkin with a single up the middle after Harkin led off the frame with a double.  In the fourth, back-to-back doubles by Garrett Schwartz and Devon Zenn put SSU up 2-0 before CSUMB plated their only run on the aforementioned RBI by Olson.  Still up 2-1 in the fifth, Harkin led off with a mammoth home run to left center field, banging a 2-1 pitch off of the facade of the Bruce Hurst Field scoreboard.

In the eighth, Sonoma would add an insurance run when Zenn sent a screamer towards the Otters' Garcia at third base with the bases loaded.  Garcia, who thought he made the catch in the air, spun around and touched his base, but the ruling was that Garcia picked it up on a hop, therefore, the force out was applied to Steven Filippi, who was running from second to third.  Amidst the confusion, Stogner got caught in a run down between third base and home plate, but was obstructed and was awarded home and the Seawolves' fourth run of the game.

That is all the offense would need to support Asmus, who improved to 8-2 this season.  Scott Harkin came on in relief in the ninth, getting the first two outs of the inning before putting two runners on via a walk and a hit.  However, Harkin buckled down and got Jason Merjano to fly out to end the ballgame.  It would be the first save of the season for Harkin, who also homered earlier in the game.

Stogner, Filippi and Harkin each had two hits apiece in the victory to lead the offense.

Cal State Monterey Bay starter Jordan Helmkamp was tagged with his first loss of the season, falling to 6-1.  Garcia had two of the four CSUMB hits.