ROHNERT PARK, CALIF. - On Thursday, April 6th, the Sonoma State baseball team kicked off their home conference series with southern California opponent Cal State Dominguez Hills. After dropping four of their last five including an extra inning defeat on Tuesday, the Seawolves would rally late with some 8th inning magic, scoring three runs in the inning to take down the Toros 7-5. Right handers
Blake Janowicz and
Chase Banks would complete the game for SSU, saving their bullpen for the remainder of the series. An RBI single from
Christopher Wright would tie things up in the 3rd and then first year infielder
Elijah Munoz would come through with a 2-RBI single in the 8th to retake the lead. Banks would earn his first win as a Seawolf with his 4.1 innings of relief, giving up just 1 run off 1 hit in a dominant performance for the Visalia native.
2ND AND 3RD INNING:
The Seawolves would find themselves in an early hole which has been a common trend thus far this season. After putting up three runs in the first two innings, the SSU offense would chip away with runs in the second and third, eventually tying the game on an RBI single from the team's hottest hitter,
Christopher Wright. In the second, a leadoff single and a walk would put the pressure on the Toros starter. After a wild pitch to advance the runners, infielder
Cooper Callison would score Wright from third with a sac fly, good for his 6th RBI of the season and the team's first run of the game.
In the third, the Seawolves would once again get runners on and after a pair of stolen bases, they'd have runners on second and third with one out. Junior transfer
Mark Hernandez would come to the plate and get a job done, scoring
Sean Pauly from third on a ground ball to the shortstop. With the infield back and trading a run for an out, Hernandez would do just that and pick up his 3rd RBI of the season.
Christopher Wright would come up the very next at bat and take the 0-2 pitch back up the middle to score Esparza and tie the game up at three a piece. Wright continues his breakout season as he leads the team with a .308 average and 15 RBI's.
8TH INNING:
In the 5th, the Toros offense would force Janowicz out of the game with a 2-out RBI single to take a 4-3 lead. An error earlier in the inning would unfortunately keep the rally alive and give Dominguez Hills the extra at bat. Sophomore
Chase Banks would come in and induce a fly ball to center to get out of the jam. Janowicz would end his outing with 4.2 innings of work, allowing 3 earned runs, 7 hits, and striking out three.
Banks would come in and have his most productive outing of the season, retiring the first six batters he faced and then working his way around a pair of walks in the 7th. A 1-2-3 8th would set the table for the Seawolves in the bottom half to grab a run and tie up the game. The SSU offense would do just that as they broke out for 4 runs off 4 hits, recording their first lead of the game at 7-4. Sophomore utility player
Niko Tejada would fight off a single up the middle to score
Cooper Callison from second and tie up the game. Fellow sophomore
Sean Pauly would single the very next at bat and load the bases for
Elijah Munoz. Munoz came in as a pinch hitter in the 6th and would have a chance to knock in the go-ahead run here in the 8th.
After battling to a 2-2 count, Munoz would rifle a hard hit ball to second base and see it get by the infielder, trickling into shallow right.
Joey Loveless would score from third and Tejada would get the green light from second, diving head first into home to ignite the SSU bench and take a 6-4 lead. The Toros would get a big double play in the following at bat but Pauly would come home to score from third to give the Seawolves a 3-run lead heading into the 9th.
Banks would stay in for the 9th looking for his first career win. After giving up a 2-out solo home run, Banks would settle down and get a ground ball out to third on the very first pitch to end the game and give the Seawolves the series opener victory, 7-5. Banks would end his day nearly perfect, giving up 1 run off 1 hit, and striking out a pair as he got credit for his first win as a Seawolf. The SSU offense would break out for a season high 12 hits, with three different players recording a multi-hit game. Wright led the way going 3-for-4 from the plate with a run scored and an RBI.
| Sonoma State |
Team |
Cal State Dominguez Hills |
| 7 |
Runs |
5 |
| 12 |
Hits |
8 |
| 1 |
Errors |
0 |
| 8 |
LOB |
8 |
| 3 |
BB |
3 |
| 5 |
SO |
5 |
| 6 |
RBI's |
5 |
LOOKING AHEAD:
The Seawolves improved to 10-13 overall and 4-11 in CCAA play. Rain is in the upcoming forecast for the weekend so be sure to check sonomaseawolves.com for updated game times and locations. 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
