ROHNERT PARK -- Down 4-3 on Sunday heading into its last at-bat in the ninth inning against nationally-ranked UC San Diego at Seawolf Diamond, the #NomaNation got loud in hopes of sparking a rally that would carry Sonoma State to a win, but it wasn't to be as the Seawolves went down 1-2-3 and lost the game (4-3) and series (3-1) to the Tritons.
The Seawolves see their CCAA record drop to 11-13 and 17-16 overall. The Tritons improve to 18-5 in the conference and 22-9 overall.
The hosts got ahead early, 2-0, after one inning. The two-run rally started when
Dustyn Macaluso singled to lead-off the inning. Macaluso advanced to second on a
Jourdan Weiks bunt and to third on a wild pitch. After
Alex Crosby got hit by a pitch and
Cody Morris popped out, Crosby left first on a steal attempt, but main goal was to hop-around in the middle of the base line and make sure he drew a throw from the catcher and didn't just let him take second. The catcher threw to second and Macaluso bolted for home as soon as he did. Macaluso beat the throw home that went past the catcher and allowed Crosby to advance to second on the double-steal and make the score 2-1.
Devin Alexander made sure Crosby would score and tie the game when he singled to left.
The Tritons would take the lead with two runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth to carry a 4-2 lead into the bottom of the seventh. A one-out Philp Ramos single scored Alexander to make it 4-3. That's where the rally would end and the run-scoring for the Seawolves in the defeat.
Weiks and Alexander each had two hits on the day.
Devin Alexander started the game for Sonoma State and pitched five innings and allowed two earned runs on seven hits and walked one.
Haydon Turpin and
Tyler Sanders combined for four innings out of the bullpen and only allowed a hit.
Aaron Gillis got the loss (0-3) for Sonoma State.
Troy Cruz pitched eight innings for UC San Diego in gaining his fifth win against two defeats. He allowed three earned runs on six hits with six strikeouts. Gradeigh Sanchez and Erik Lewis each went 2 for 4 with an RBI.
Sonoma State resumes CCAA play on Thursday at home against Cal State East Bay at 2:00 P.M. at Seawolf Diamond.