FRESNO, CALIF. - On Friday, February 16th, the Sonoma State baseball team battled the Sunbirds of Fresno Pacific in a doubleheader to kickoff the three game weekend series. The Seawolves would give up a season high 16 hits and 10 runs in the game one defeat but comeback and take the night cap 6-5 in extra innings behind a stellar relief performance from second year right hander Scotty Kato. 

Kato would strikeout six Sunbirds and not give up a single hit to earn his first win of the season. Shane Callison would come up with the game winning hit, singling home Chris Ortiz in the top of the 9th to give SSU the 6-5 lead. 

A three run 5th inning would give Sonoma State a 3-2 lead and then senior shortstop Daniel Monti would come up with a two RBI double the very next inning to extend their lead to 5-2. Down three, FPU would get exactly that in the bottom half of the inning to eventually force extras on a Friday night in Fresno. 

The Sunbirds would go down in order in the bottom half of the 8th but the Seawolves would fail to cash in on a leadoff triple from Kenny Decelle in the top half to force a 9th inning late into the night. A pair of walks would set the table with two outs for sophomore infielder Shane Callison. Callison would come up clutch and pull a single down the right field line to score Chris Ortiz from third and deliver the go-ahead run for the Seawolves. 

Kato would walk the leadoff batter and a wild pitch would send him to second with no outs. A long fly ball to right field would allow the runner to tag and advance to third, giving the Sunbirds two chances to tie or win the game. Kato would take matters into his own hands and strikeout back-to-back batters to seal the win in emphatic fashion and give Sonoma State their fifth win of the season. 

Callison had a career day finishing 4-6 from the plate including the game winning single in the 9th. Decelle also chipped in a pair of hits and Monti led the way with two RBI's. Ace Tanner Fonoti went four innings in his second start of the season giving up two runs with five strikeouts. Marcellus Henry would push through the fifth before Kato took over for four scoreless.  

LOOKING AHEAD  

With the doubleheader split, the Seawolves hold an overall record of 5-2. They will conclude the three game set with the Sunbirds on Saturday, February 18th at 12:00 PM. Live stats and stream links can be found at sonomaseawolves.com.  

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