BOX SCORE Sonoma State 6, San Francisco State 5 -- Box Score
ROHNERT PARK -- For the fifth time this season, the Sonoma State baseball team rallied for a walkoff victory in its final at bat, this time it was
Eric Ehlow to deliver the blow with an RBI single down the left field line to cap a two-run ninth inning and a 6-5 win over visiting San Francisco State on Sunday at Seawolf Diamond, The Seawolves (14-9, 12-4 CCAA) completed their weekend sweep of the Gators (12-14, 7-9 CCAA) and have now won 10 of their last 11 conference games to remain in a tie for first place with Chico State atop the CCAA standings.
It is the second time Ehlow has been responsible for batting home the game-winning run in Sonoma's final at bat -- he lifted an RBI sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning back on Mar. 14 to help SSU earn a 2-1 walkoff victory over Cal State Dominguez Hills. On Sunday, he took a ball and fouled off four pitches before turning on the 1-2 pitch and roping it past the third baseman and down into the left field corner allowing
Jackson Stogner to scamper home from second base.
The Seawolves went into the frame trailing by a run, but back-to-back base hits by
Jourdan Weiks and Stogner to leadoff the ninth, followed by a passed ball and an intentional walk to
Daniel Caresio allowed
Alex Crosby to hit an RBI sacrifice fly to right field scoring the game-tying run in Weiks.
Sonoma State drew first blood in the contest, plating a run on a throwing error by SF State starting pitcher Nolan Sheridan, opening the door for Stogner to score from second base on the play. The lead wouldn't last long, however, as the Gators scored five runs over the next three innings to take a 5-1 lead.
The Seawolves began to make their move in the bottom of the sixth, cutting the four-run deficit to just one after an RBI double from
Wesley Wallace, an RBI groundout by
Steven Moen and an RBI single by Weiks. It would set up another chance for late-inning heroics that Sonoma State took full advantage of to complete the four-game sweep of San Francisco State.
Weiks went 3 for 3 with an RBI and a run scored as Caresio, Ehlow and Wallace each pounded out two hits for the Seawolves, who tallied 11 in Sunday's series finale. For the weekend, SSU batted .362 with 51 hits, outscoring SFSU 34-16 in four games.
Stevan Zaharias (1-1) worked the final two innings out of the bullpen for Sonoma and earned the victory. He took over after three innings from starter
Matt Hammonds and four from
Aaron Gillis. Hammonds allowed seven hits and four runs while Gillis scattered four hits and gave up one run in their time on the bump.
San Francisco State had 13 hits with five different Gators recording two each. Cory Davis (2-1), who came into the game with a CCAA-leading seven saves, suffered his first blown save and his first loss of the year. He took over for Sheridan in the seventh and allowed two runs on four hits, most of which came in the bottom of the ninth.
Sonoma State will host NAIA-powerhouse Lewis-Clark State in a non-conference doubleheader on Tuesday at 11:00 am before welcoming Cal Poly Pomona into town next Friday for a four-game series at Seawolf Diamond.
