SANTA ROSA, Calif. – A rainy weekend saw the first two games of Sonoma State's four-game series with Cal State San Bernardino relocate to Santa Rosa Junior College on Saturday, but the Seawolves felt right at home as they blew out their opponent 8-2 in game one before walking off in the night cap, 4-3.
Game 1
The Seawolves kicked off the action in game one with a pair of home runs in the first inning. On the first pitch of the game,
Bryce Nagata crushed his fourth home run of the year, putting his team on the board in the top of the first. Just one batter later,
Rayson Romero connected on a ball of his own, sending his first career home run sailing deep to left center and pushing the lead to 2-0.
The two runs of support got the Seawolves rolling as
Dominic Garihan locked in for Sonoma State's first complete game of the season. Giving up just two runs in 9 innings of work, Garihan dominated much of the day, striking out nine without walking a single batter over his 97-pitch performance.
San Bernardino's sole scoring play came in the fourth inning when Alec Ceniceros hit an RBI double to left-center, bringing home the runners at first and third. However, the Seawolves untied the score in the bottom of the inning quickly.
With a runner at second and one out,
Matthew Richards hit an RBI single to left to retake the lead 3-2. A single by
Jake Sahagian advanced Richards to third, before he was brought home on a sac fly by
Nicco Toni.
The Seawolves continued to add runs in the following three innings, bringing home two in the fifth on a pair of RBI singles by Josh Lenney and
Zach Guardino.
Nicco Toni hit into a pair of RBI groundouts—one in the sixth and one in the seventh—to build to Sonoma State's 8-2 final.
Game 2
In what was scheduled to be a seven-inning affair, Sonoma State and San Bernardino played into extra innings to find a winner in the second game of the day. A walk-off single through the right side by Lenney proved to be the game winner, bringing in
Mitch West on the play.
The Seawolves took the first lead in the third inning, when
Daniel Hawkins came in to score on on a double play. Sonoma State added another run in the fourth when Lenney hit an RBI single into center. The Seawolves held on to their two run lead until the Coyotes began to make a comeback.
A wild pitch and a double to left center tied things at two in the fifth before Sonoma State retook a one run lead in the bottom of the inning. With the bases loaded,
Joshua Montelongo worked a seven-pitch walk, driving in Nagata. San Bernardino tied things up in the sixth again on an error, but the Seawolves came away winners in eight innings, thanks to Lenney.
With the pair of wins, the Seawolves move to 8-14 and 14-12 in conference play. They'll finish the series tomorrow at Seawolf Diamond with a doubleheader start time of 11:00 am.
