Rohnert Park, Calif. - After five straight losses and seven losses over their last eight games, the Sonoma State Seawolves got back on track in the CCAA North Division with two big wins against first-place CSU Monterey Bay.
Game 1 - Sonoma State 10, CSU Monterey Bay 3
In the opener, Sonoma State was down a run going into the seventh inning before a
Grant St. Martin two-run homer gave the Seawolves the lead for good. They then sent 11 batters to the plate in the eighth to score six runs and run away with the win.
St. Martin's two-run shot was his sixth of the season, a towering fly ball to left off Jeffery Ahern. Ahern remained in the game for the eighth, where the Seawolves exploded for six hits, with both
Rayson Romero and
Spencer Neve having two run base hits in the inning. St. Martin added an infield single and and
Matthew Richards got his first hit after lining out in his previous four at-bats to give Sonoma State double-digit runs for the third time in 2016.
Five players had multiple hits in the team's 14 hit barrage.
Daniel Caresio led the way, going 3-for-4 with a run scored, an RBI and a walk. St. Martin went 2-for-5 with three RBI and two runs.
Adam Manzer,
Bryant Cid and
Brett Sesma each had two hits, with Manzer scoring twice and Cid and Sesma each scoring once.
Ryan O'Malley drew three walks to give him a team-best 27 on the season, pushing his on-base percentage to .482.
Cal Becker struck out nine in only five innings of work, allowing three runs on three hits with three walks and three hit by pitches.
Wade Berryhill picked up his first win of the season with three innings of scoreless relief.
Game 2 - Sonoma State 4, CSU Monterey Bay 2
In a brisk seven-inning affair that lasted only 94 minutes, Sonoma State put together a four-run fourth inning rally to propel them to a doubleheader sweep behind a strong start from
Ryan Luna.
The senior had a no-hitter going through four innings before a bloop single to left by D'Andre Sanchez with two outs ended that idea. In the previous at-bat, the no-hitter was thought to have been over after Josh Thorpe hit a sharp grounder to right, but
Bryant Cid threw out Thorpe by a half-step for the rare 9-3 putout.
The fourth inning brought all nine Seawolves to the plate, as an O'Malley walk and singles by St. Martin and
Tyler Glenn loaded the bases. After having some bad luck with line drives in the first game, Richards finally got a line drive to find a hole, drilling a double down the left field line to clear the bases for what ended up being the game-winning hit. After Richards advanced to third on the throw, Cid hit a sacrifice fly to center field to bring home Richards to give SSU a 4-0 lead.
The Otters scored a run in each of the sixth and seventh innings, but
Jackson Zarubin came in to relieve Luna and get the final two outs of the game for his fourth save of the year. Luna allowed three hits and three walks in 6 1/3 innings. Only one of his two runs were earned and he struck out four.
Richards led the offense going 2-for-3 with the three-run double and the run scored.
Spencer Neve reached base twice, going 1-for-2 with a walk.
With the wins over the Otters, Sonoma moved to 13-12 in CCAA play, putting them two games behind Chico State and a game behind Monterey Bay.
UP NEXT: A crucial four-game series for the Seawolves begins on Friday when they take on first place Chico State with a chance to shake up the CCAA North Division. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
