ROHNERT PARK, CALIF. - On Thursday, May 5th, the Sonoma State baseball team kept their postseason hopes alive after holding off Cal State San Bernardino late for the 8-6 victory. Junior right hander Nick Roth would make his 9th start of the season in game one of the series on shorter rest with the series kicking off on a Thursday and go 6+ innings giving up 4 runs on 8 hits. Roth would start off hot, retiring 9 of the first 13 batters he faced and allow no runs in the first three innings of the ball game.  

SSU would jump on the scoreboard first in the bottom half of the 1st off an RBI single from Cole Brodnansky. A single down the right field line from Christopher Wright in the at bat prior would send Sean Pauly to third and bring up Brodnansky. He would then hit a high chopper off the dir in front of home plate that would sail over the third baseman into left field, giving the Seawolves a 1-0 lead. 

Sonoma State would strike again in the bottom of the third and Sean Pauly would be involved again as he reached base off a leadoff error from the Coyotes shortstop. A deep single from veteran Joshua Medina would send the speedy Pauly to third with no outs. Christopher Wright would come to the dish and get the job done as he would record his 18th RBI of the season with a deep sac fly to center, scoring Pauly easily from third. SSU would leave the bottom half of the third with a 2-0 lead.    

Roth would surrender his first run of the game in the top half of the 4th on a leadoff solo shot from Cal State San Bernardino. Roth would bare down though to get back-to-back fly outs and strike out the fourth batter to end the inning. A single, a walk, and a hit by pitch though would load the bases for the Seawolves in the bottom half of the 4th as they looked to get that one run back. Outfielder Sean Pauly would sky a bloop single into shallow left field that would get down and advance all the Seawolf runners one base. The hit would score Logan Douglas from third as SSU made it a 3-1 ball game. Two batters later with two outs, Nick Simmons would beautifully read a wild pitch from the Coyotes reliever and take off for home. He would score easily and extend Sonoma State's lead to 4-1 after four innings of play. 

The Seawolves would break things open in the bottom of the 5th with a 3-run inning. After getting the first two batters on, Logan Douglas would bunt over Lopez and Sweet, putting runners on second and third with one out. Senior shortstop Nick Simmons would come to the plate and jump on the first pitch, sending it high and deep over the left field fence for his second of the season. The 3-run shot would put SSU up 7-1 heading into the 6th. 

After giving up a run in the 6th, Roth would come back out to start the 7th but run into some trouble. After recording the first out, Roth would give up another solo home run and then walk the next batter before head coach John Goelz went to the bullpen. Out would come sophomore right hander Hogan Weaver in his 13th appearance of the season. Weaver would only face two batters in the inning, giving up a double and then a lineout to third. He would exit for a better matchup as junior transfer Michael Benz came in to shut the door. Benz would give up a 2-RBI single through the right side of the infield on the very first pitch to put the Coyotes within two runs. A ground out to second would end the threat but leave the Seawolves with work to do to close out the game. 

Some errant pitching would give SSU a nice cushion in the bottom of the 8th as the San Bernardino reliever would walk two batters and then record the sacrifice bunt out before exiting the game. With runners on second and third, a wild pitch from the next pitcher would plate Simmons and give Sonoma State an 8-5 lead heading into the 9th. Benz would retire the Coyotes in order in the top of the 8th to maintain the Seawolved lead. 

With a save situation in play and a postseason berth at stake, Goelz would look to his trusty utility player and veteran Josh Medina to take the mound and close out the game. Medina not only is a .300 plus hitter but he also makes his 10th appearance on the mound this season. After getting the leadoff batter out on a pop-up to second, Medina would face the thick of the order for the Coyotes and give up a single, a walk, and a wild pitch to put runners at second and third with one out. After battling to a full count with the next Coyotes hitter, Medina would trade an out for a run and give up a deep sac fly to left, putting San Bernardino within two runs. After a visit from Goelz and the Seawolves infield, Medina would bare down and induce a fly out to right-center to end the game and give SSU the 8-6 victory in game one of the series. 

All 9 hits for SSU were spread around the lineup today as 9 different players recorded a hit. Sophomore outfielder Sean Pauly had a solid day as he went 1-3 from the plate with an RBI but also got on base three times and scored 2 runs. Senior Nick Simmons's 3-run bomb to left field though would prove to be the go-ahead runs of the game and help secure the Seawolves win. Starting pitcher Nick Roth picks up his 3rd win of the season and lowers his ERA down to 4.05 on the season. 

The Seawolves improve to 21-25 overall and 18-19 in CCAA play after their 8-6 win in game one over Cal State San Bernardino. The Seawolves continue to control their own postseason fate as they will play games two and three of the series tomorrow with first pitch slated for 11:00 AM. 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