Max Carter, freshman UTL, attempts to run back to third bases away from Sacramento State opponent Saturday at the Hardt Field.
By Stephany Bravo
Staff Writer
The ’Runner baseball team defeated the Sacramento State Hornets 2-1 in the 11th inning on Saturday, April 26 at Hardt Field. The `Runners currently hold a record of 17-24, 9-8 WAC.
In the bottom of the 11th inning, junior first baseman Soloman Williams singled to right field while sophomore shortstop Mylz Jones reached for a fielding error by Sac State.
After a sacrifice bunt from junior left field Garrett Pierce, Jones advanced to second, and Williams to third.
Junior catcher Ross Hough singled up the middle scoring having Williams seal the victory for The `Runners.
“We hung in there and didn’t allow us to give it away,” said Head Coach Bill Kernen. “The reason winning against [Sacramento State] is important is because they’ve beaten everybody else and they’ve only had two losses, so you beat them and everybody else didn’t so it’s almost like beating another team.”
James Barragan, junior pitcher, pitches to Sacramento State for Saturday’s game at Hardt Field.
The ’Runners scored in the bottom of the first inning as Willams grounded out to first base driving in junior center field Jordie Hein.
“I’ve been struggling all season, so my main thing I’m focusing on is being aggressive and it’s seemed to pay off for me,” said Williams who finished with two hits and one RBI.
The flow of the game remained steady up until the top of the ninth inning when Sacramento State first baseman Rhys Hoskins tied the game at 1-1 with an RBI single.
“As a team our goal was to stay focused the whole way and do what we can to get the win,” said Jones.
“It was a close game the whole way and no one could get down or anything [because] that would have changed the momentum.”
Junior pitcher James Barragan, pitched 10 solid innings. Barragan recorded seven strike outs, and only gave up five hits.
“I was able to stay locked in the whole game, [my main concentration] was throwing strikes and getting ahead and making sure the guys glorified in their way of play,” said Barragan.
Mylz Jones, sophomore infielder, sends the ball to first base, striking out a Sacramento State opponent Saturday at the Hardt Field.
“Great defense, [junior] Ross Hough did a great job blocking balls behind the plate, I had seven strike outs, six of them being sliders in the dirt so for him to block all of them and gun them to first was good, it was all around a great team effort.”
“We gained a lot of confidence after beating the number one team in the WAC conference, no one backed down and we all stayed with it,” said Jones.
The ’Runners improved from the previous game with a loss of 10-3 in their first game of the series on Friday. Pierce led the team, going 2-4 with an RBI.
The team dropped the rubber match on Sunday 7-3. They were no hit until the bottom of the eighth inning when second baseman David Metzgar ended the drought with a single. Williams led the team with a three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning.
The ’Runners will play a three game series at Northern Colorado beginning on Friday May 2.
