ROHNERT PARK, CALIF. - On Tuesday, April 4th, the Sonoma State baseball team took on the Pioneers of Cal State East Bay as a part of their postponed series back in March. The game would represent the second out of four and the remaining two games will be made up later this month. The Seawolves were looking to turn the page after a tough series defeat to 5th ranked San Bernardino over the weekend, but a late game error would cut their rally short as East Bay would score one in the top of the 11th and hold on for the 8-7 victory. 

2ND INNING:

The Seawolves would show great patience at the plate in the first two innings, drawing six walks and loading the bases in back-to-back innings to apply some early pressure. In the second, a 2-out walk from Cooper Callison would load the bases and bring infielder Mark Hernandez to the plate. Hernandez would shoot a ground ball into the 5-6 hole forcing the Pioneers shortstop to go to second for the force out. An errant throw into right field would allow Jared Esparza to score from third and Shane Callison would get waived home from second by third base coach Zack Pace, giving SSU the early 2-0 lead.    

Senior right hander Michael Benz would return from injury and get his first start of the season. Benz would go three innings and keep the Seawolves in the game allowing just 1 run off 3 hits. Left hander Michael Panichi would come in relief to start the 4th inning and get himself out of some early trouble with a 2-out single and hit batter. He would end the Pioneers threat with a 7-pitch strikeout and maintain SSU's 2-1 advantage. 

In the 5th, East Bay would grab a pair of runs off a leadoff home run and then a 2-out throwing error to take a 3-2 lead. First baseman Christopher Wright would hustle to pick up the errant throw along the fence down the first base line and make a great throw home to get the trailing runner and prevent the third run from scoring in the inning.  

9TH INNING:

Fast forward to the 9th, senior right hander Ross Goldschlag would enter the game but get himself into trouble with a 2-out double and a pair of walks to load the bases. Two pitches later the Pioneer hitter would lace a ball to the left center gap for a bases clearing double, giving East Bay a 6-3 lead heading into the bottom half of the inning. 

Down to their last at bat, the Seawolves hitters would make the most of it as they put together a stunning 4-run inning to tie the game up and force extras. Freshman infielder Shane Callison would single with a runner on and then another pair of walks would score pinch runner Ryan Wilmoth to ignite the SSU rally. Wright would come to the plater with one out and ground into a fielders choice, scoring Callison from third as East Bay got the force out at second. Then the big 2-out hit would come from catcher Chris Ortiz as he punched the 2-2 pitch to right field scoring Cooper Callison from third and Wright from second. Once again, third base coach Zack Pace did a great job of reading the outfield and gave Wright the green light for home as he dove head first into the plate to score the game tying run.  

EXTRA INNINGS:

Both teams would trade off runs in the 10th, an RBI single from East Bay and then another costly error from the Pioneers defense would score Braeden Holliday from second to extend the game. In the 11th, junior right hander Nik Kamages would take the mound for his team leading 8th appearance. Kamages would work around a single and a walk, getting a huge punch out to give the Seawolves two outs in the inning.

Kamages would go right after the next batter and get hm down 0-2, but the East Bay hitter would fight off an inside pitch and hit a slow roller to second that would be bobbled, allowing the runner from third to score and give the Pioneers the lead once again. Shane Callison would catch the runner from second rounding third in a rundown as he would eventually be tagged out at third to end the inning, but not before the initial run scored to give East Bay their 4th lead of the game.  

East Bay would throw their 7th pitcher of the game as he would work around a 2-out walk and strikeout his second batter of the inning to end the 11-inning affair with an 8-7 Pioneers victory. Five different Seawolves would each record a hit in the game and right hander Scotty Kato would come in relief for Panichi back in the 5th and throw a game high 3.2 innings, giving up just 3 hits and zero runs. 
 

Sonoma State	Teams	Cal State East Bay
7	Runs	8
5	Hits	14
3	Errors	2
12	LOB	11
11	BB	5
13	SO	6

LOOKING AHEAD:

The Seawolves fall to 9-13 overall and 3-11 in CCAA play. They will look to ge back in the winning column this weekend with a home series against Cal State Dominguez Hills starting on Thursday, April 6th with first pitch scheduled for 2:00 PM. Live stats and stream links can be found at sonomaseawolves.com and you can stream the game LIVE on the CCAA Network.  

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