TURLOCK, CALIF. - On Friday, April 28th, the Sonoma State baseball team kicked off their final conference road series against Stanislaus State. After coming off a series defeat to Cal State San Marcos, the Seawolves bounced back with some nice relief pitching to earn a 5-2 series opener win under the lights. SSU would piece together 13 hits in the game, good for their 10th game this season with double digit hits, and get on the board early with a 3-run first inning.
Sophomore right hander
Chase Banks would throw 4+ innings of relief to earn his second win of the season and allow fellow right hander
Ross Goldschlag to pick up the 12-pitch save in the 9th.
1ST INNING:
A leadoff single from standout center fielder
Kenny Decelle followed by a four pitch walk to
Elijah Munoz would set the table with two on and no outs. After four straight foul balls, junior infielder
Mark Hernandez would lace a ball down the left field line to plate Decelle and the hustling Munoz to give SSU an early 2-0 lead.
The Seawolves would keep things rolling as
Christopher Wright would come to the plate and slap an RBI single the other way, scoring Hernandez from second to complete the three run inning. Wright continues to showcase his ability to hit to all fields as the second year player holds a .277 average and leads the team with five homers on the season.
Petaluma native
Nik Kamages would make his team leading 7th start of the season and battle through three and a third before departing for sophomore
Chase Banks. Kamages would allow a run in the 3rd and then get into some more trouble in the 4th, allowing a sac fly to center to give the Warriors their second run of the game.
Head coach
John Goelz would go get Kamages and hand Banks the ball with one out and runners on first and second. Not known for his strikeout ability, Banks would get back-to-back punch outs to end the inning and maintain the Seawolves 3-2 advantage. Banks has proven to be one of the team's most effective relievers in his 10th appearance of the season as he would go on to throw four scoreless innings and put himself in line for the win.
5TH INNING:
After limiting the Warriors to just one run in the 4th, the Seawolves would come back with a pair of runs in the 5th to retake the momentum and hold a 5-2 lead. A walk and a one out single from Hernandez would put runners on the corners. Wright would hit a tapper up the first base line allowing Decelle to scamper home from third and give SSU their 4th run of the game. Two batters later, it would be
Daniel Monti who would come up with a clutch two out RBI single, scoring Hernandez from second and adding a big insurance run for the Seawolves.
FINAL SSU 5-2 STAN:
Banks would get into a great rhythm, completing the next four innings and retiring 11 of the 14 batters he faced. He would allow just one hit and not a single run in his stellar relief outing, allowing him to earn his second win of the season.
Veteran right hander
Ross Goldschlag would come on in the 9th to close things out. Goldschlag would check every box, recording a strikeout, pop out and a ground out to third to end the game and secure the 12-pitch save, his first of the season.
Seven different Seawolves would record a hit in the game but the team's hottest hitter,
Mark Hernandez, would reach base five times and record a team high three hits as he climbs his average to .367. Hernandez has recorded two or more hits in his last five games and has made his offensive impact felt over the final weeks of the season.
Kenny Decelle,
Braeden Holliday and
Daniel Montil combined for seven hits as well in the team's 5-2 victory.
LOOKING AHEAD:
The Seawolves improve to 16-21 overall and pick up their 10th win in CCAA play. They will resume the four game series on Saturday with a pair of games starting at 1:00 PM. Live stats and stream links can be found at sonomaseawolves.com and you can stream the game 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
