CHICO, Calif. – Sonoma State scored four times in the ninth inning to rally for an 8-5 victory against Chico State Saturday at Nettleton Stadium for its school record-breaking 23rd straight win. Chico State took the lead with two runs in the eighth, but the Seawolves, ranked No. 2 in the nation, answered in the top of the ninth to improve to 29-1 on the season.
Chico State, ranked No. 16 in the nation entering the weekend, dipped to 21-9 overall and 10-7 in the CCAA. Sonoma State improved to 29-1 overall and 16-0 in the CCAA with its second win at Nettleton Stadium in two days. The teams will travel to Rohnert Park for a doubleheader tomorrow at noon to wrap up the series.
Chico State trailed 4-3 with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, but pinch hitter Kevin Seaver sparked a two-run rally with a base hit to left field. Seaver moved to second on Sonoma State outfielder Tyrese McDaniel’s error. Pinch runner Nick Liedel advanced to third on a wild pitch and then scored the tying run when Cody Dee’s bouncer up the middle glanced off pitcher Travis Babin’s glove and into left field. Travis DeCoito later drove home Dee with a double to right field to put the Wildcats ahead 5-4.
The excitement was short-lived, however. Kris Haycock greeted Wildcats reliever Kyle Woodruff with a base hit leading off the ninth, and with one out, Mark Pestorich singled to right to put runners on the corners. Ian Bridges’ slow ground ball was enough to get Haycock home with the tying run, and then the Seawolves took the lead for good on Kyle Jones’ single up the middle. Konrad Thieme added insurance with a two-run homer to make it 8-5.
Morgan Rodriguez, who got the final out of the eighth with two Chico State runners on base, retired the Wildcats in order in the ninth to earn the win, improving to 1-0 on the season. Seawolves starter Rashad Tucker allowed three runs in three innings. Reliever Matt Garner followed with four shutout innings before Babin was touched for two runs on three hits in two-thirds of an inning.
Woodruff (0-2) took the loss for Chico State, allowing four runs on four hits in the ninth. Starter Kyle Gibson allowed four runs, three of them earned, in five frames. He struck out five and walked four. Joel Garcia followed with three scoreless innings of relief.
Bret Ringer finished 3-for-5 with two RBI and two doubles to lead Chico State’s offense. Cody Dee was 2-for-4 to stretch his hitting streak to 12 games. DeCoito was 2-for-2.
Nick Nosti was 3-for-4 at the plate for the Seawolves. Dave Herman and Jones banged out two hits apiece.
Box Score
Chico State Wildcats
#2 Sonoma State at #16 Chico State
Mar 29, 2008 at Chico, Calif (Nettleton Stadium)
Sonoma State 8 (29-1,16-0 CCAA)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
HERMAN, Dave 3b.......... 5 2 2 0 0 1 2 3 0
NOSTI, Nick cf........... 4 1 3 1 1 0 3 0 0
HAYCOCK, Kris ss......... 3 1 1 1 1 2 3 0 1
McDANIEL, Tyrese lf...... 5 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 3
HARMS, Derek lf......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
PESTORICH, Mark rf....... 5 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 1
BRIDGES, Ian 1b.......... 5 0 1 1 0 0 9 0 0
JONES, Kyle dh........... 3 0 2 1 2 1 0 0 0
WALDEN, Robert pr....... 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
THIEME, Konrad c......... 4 2 1 2 0 2 8 1 4
ADLER, David 2b.......... 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 1
TUCKER, Rashad p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
GARNETT, Matt p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
BABIN, Travis p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
RODRIGUEZ, Morgan p..... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 38 8 12 7 5 6 27 9 10
Chico State 5 (21-9,10-7 CCAA)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
FARMER, Shane cf......... 2 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0
DeCOITO, Travis ph/cf... 2 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0
DODOS, Jimmy rf.......... 2 2 0 0 1 0 2 1 4
RINGER, Bret 3b.......... 5 1 3 2 0 0 0 1 0
BITKER, Matt dh.......... 5 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1
DINGMAN, Nick 1b......... 5 0 1 0 0 0 9 0 1
VICTOR, Nick lf.......... 3 0 1 0 0 2 3 0 2
MEAGHER, Josh ph........ 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
BURKE, Joey lf.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
BOSCARINO, Phil 2b....... 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 5 0
SEAVER, Kevin ph........ 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
LIEDEL, Nick pr/ss...... 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
DEE, Cody c.............. 4 1 2 1 0 0 7 0 0
EVELAND, Kyle ss......... 3 0 0 0 0 1 2 1 1
MOORE, Trevor ph/2b..... 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
GIBSON, Kyle p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
GARCIA, Joel p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
WOODRUFF, Kyle p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 36 5 11 5 2 7 27 11 9
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Sonoma State........ 102 001 004 - 8 12 1
Chico State......... 102 000 020 - 5 11 3
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E - McDANIEL; RINGER; BOSCARINO; WOODRUFF. DP - Chico 1. LOB - SSU 10; Chico
9. 2B - HERMAN; DeCOITO; RINGER 2; BITKER; DEE. HR - THIEME. HBP - THIEME;
FARMER; DODOS. SH - DODOS. SF - HAYCOCK. SB - NOSTI 2. CS - DeCOITO.
Sonoma State IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP
--------------------------------------------------
TUCKER, Rashad...... 3.0 4 3 3 1 5 13 15 -
GARNETT, Matt....... 4.0 4 0 0 0 2 14 16 -
BABIN, Travis....... 0.2 3 2 2 1 0 5 6 -
RODRIGUEZ, Morgan... 1.1 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 -
Chico State IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP
--------------------------------------------------
GIBSON, Kyle........ 5.0 6 4 3 4 5 21 27 -
GARCIA, Joel........ 3.0 2 0 0 1 1 10 11 -
WOODRUFF, Kyle...... 1.0 4 4 4 0 0 7 7 -
Win - RODRIGUEZ (1-0). Loss - WOODRUFF (0-2). Save - None.
WP - TUCKER; BABIN. HBP - by TUCKER (DODOS); by GARNETT (FARMER); by GIBSON
(THIEME). BK - TUCKER. PB - THIEME. Inherited runners/scored: RODRIGUEZ 2/0;
GARCIA, Jo 3/1. Pitches/strikes: None.
Umpires - HP: Gary DiFabio 1B: James Lamb 2B: Scott Letendre
Start: 12:00 Time: 3:20 Attendance: 403
Game notes:
Sonoma State rallies for four runs in the ninth to win its school-record
23rd straight game. The Seawolves tied the game on Ian Bridges' RBI-ground
ball and then Kyle Jones' single up the middle plated the winning run.
The same teams play a doubleheader Sunday at noon in Rohnert Park.
GIBSON faced 3 batters in the 6th.
