BOX SCORE Fresno Pacific 2, Sonoma State 1 -- Box Score

FRESNO, Calif. -- After being held scoreless for the first eight innings in a classic pitcher's duel, Fresno Pacific rallied for two runs in the bottom of the ninth to defeat Sonoma State 2-1 in the opener of a three-game series.

J.D. Salles went 8 2/3 innings, giving up just three hits and one run while striking out 12 but was on the hook for the loss until the Sunbirds rallied in the bottom of the ninth.

FPU's Joshua Banuelos, playing against his former team, went 2-for-4 with two doubles including a leadoff double in the ninth that allowed him to eventually score the tying run on a Hunter Villanueva sacrifice fly that was dropped by the Seawolves outfielder. FPU would proceed to load the bases and win it when Bryan Bucher was hit by a pitch.

Josh Medeles (4-1) earned the win in relief, striking out the lone batter he faced to strand the bases loaded in the top half of the ninth. Devin Alexander (0-1) took the loss for the Seawolves, in relief of starter George Asmus who threw 6 2/3 scoreless innings.

Eric Ehlow brought home the only SSU run of the game on an RBI single in the first inning that scored Alex Crosby from second base.

FPU improves to 10-8 on the season while Sonoma State falls to 6-5. The two teams meet up again Saturday with a doubleheader starting at 11 am.