ROHNERT PARK, CALIF. - On Sunday, April 24th, the Sonoma State baseball team took care of business and won game four of their weekend series with CCAA opponent Cal State LA 8-2. Freshman right hander Blake Janowicz would get back on track after a rough outing against Cal State San Marcos last weekend and throw 6 strong innings giving up just 1 run on 4 hits in his team leading 9th start of the season. 

3RD & 4TH INNING:

After retiring the first 6 batters of the game, Janowicz would run into some trouble in the third inning. A two out single with runners on first and second would squirt through the left side and get past the diving Nick Simmons at short. A run would come in from second to give LA the 1-0 lead. After another infield single the next at-bat, the Golden Eagles would have the bases loaded with two outs. Janowicz would induce a ground ball to third on the very first pitch where Joshua Medina would pick the tough hop and then dive to the third base bag, beating the LA baserunner to end the threat. Despite giving up all four hits in that half inning, Janowicz would limit the damage to just one run. 

After a 1-2-3 inning in the top half of the 4th, the Seawolves offense would get one back and tie up the game off of a 1-out single from Cole Brodnansky. Brodnansky would single through the left side of the infield to score Josh Lopez who got on with an error to start the inning. Janowicz would go on to finish the 5th and 6th inning and retire the LA hitters in order before exiting the game. The box score would later reveal that Janowicz actually threw 5 perfect innings out of his 6, not allowing a single hit, walk, or any kind of baserunner, as all 4 hits he allowed came in the 3rd inning. 

6TH & 7 TH INNING:

The Seawolves would put Janowicz in line for the win in the bottom half of the 6th with a clutch 2-out single from shortstop Nick Simmons. With runners on second and third, Simmons would rip a 2-0 fastball into left field. Third base coach Zack Pace would give Cole Brodnansky the green light from second but a terrific throw would put him out at the plate and limit the damage to just one run. Christopher Wright would score the go ahead run easily from third as SSU took a 2-1 lead into the 7th. 

Napa Valley JC transfer Tanner Fonoti would make his 10th appearance this season as he looked to shut the door and finish the game with a 2-1 lead. A leadoff walk and a costly error though would put Fonoti in a tough situation with no outs to start the 7th. Fonoti would battle back though and get a huge punch out with runners on second and third to record the first out of the inning. Fonoti would induce a ground ball out to Simmons at short but traded it for a run as the Golden Eagles tied up the game at two a piece. Another ground ball out to Medina at third would end the threat and limit the damage to just a run as Fonoti escaped the two on no outs situation. Janowicz would drop the potential win though and settle for the no decision.   

Once again though head coach John Goelz and his squad would respond with a big inning in the bottom half of the 7th and seize complete control of the game on their way to their third straight series victory. Junior transfer Otis Statum would get the crowd into the game and kick off the big 7th inning with an absolute laser for his 6th homer of the season. Statum jumped on the 0-1 pitch and sent it screaming over the left field fence. Despite the 6-run inning, Statum's home run would go down as the go-ahead run of the game. 

A hit batter and a single would put runners on first and third and bring up infielder Josh Lopez to the dish. Lopez would add on to his RBI total for the weekend as he would lace a double into the left center gap and score both runners to extend SSU's lead to 5-2. A walk and an error would load the bases and bring Nick Simmons to the plate once again in a 2-out situation. Simmons would put the nail in the coffin for the Golden Eagles and deliver a bases clearing single to center field scoring Wright and Lopez from second and third. Brodnansky would get all the way around to third but an errant throw would find its way into Cal State LA's dugout and allow Brodnansky to trot home giving the Seawolves a convincing 8-2 lead.     

FINAL SSU (8) vs. CSULA (2)    

After giving up a run in the 7th, Fonoti would settle down and retire 6 of the next 8 batters he faced and record a pair of strikeouts to end the game and give himself his third win of the season. Statum, Medina, Brodnansky and Simmons would each record a pair of hits in the contest and represent 8 of the team's 10 hits. Lopez would finish the weekend with 4 RBI's after recording 2 in today's game with his double back in the 7th. Simmons has now recorded a hit in his last 7 games as he went 8-13 with 7 RBI's on the weekend. SSU remains in the hunt for that 6th and final spot in the conference tournament. For the full CCAA standings click HERE.   

The Seawolves improve to 19-22 overall and 16-16 in CCAA play after their third straight series victory, defeating Cal State LA three games to one. Sonoma State will play in an exhibition game tomorrow afternoon against Team Italy at 2:00 PM. Live stats will not be available for that game but it will be streamed on the CCAA Network. They will then resume CCAA play next weekend at Cal State Dominguez Hills on Friday, April 29th at 2:00 PM.  

Live stats and stream links can be found at sonomaseawolves.com and all games can be streamed live on the CCAA Network. Be sure to follow your Seawolves on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to get all the latest SSU athletics updates and information. Sonoma State athletics also has launched a new fan app in partnership with From Now On. Download the free app today in both the Apple and Google Play stores by searching Sonoma State Seawolves in the app store. @SonomaSeawolves | #NomaNation