TURLOCK, Calif. – Central Washington University Baseball dropped its 2020 season opener Friday afternoon after falling 10-1 to Stanislaus State on the road.
Helping the Warriors (1-0) take the opening day victory was a pair of homeruns coupled with seven combined runs in the first five innings. Both teams had one error for the afternoon, but the Wildcats (0-1) managed just three hits, while the Warriors had 14.
"I felt our guys battled the whole time. Even when the game got away from us there for a minute, they never showed any signs of stepping down," CWU Head Coach
Desi Storey said. "Hitting wise it just felt like we tried to to do too much at times. I think had we not pressed as hard as we did at times we would've been ok. But that'll happen. Having to be inside for practice, I could we just weren't at game speed yet. We weren't in out comfort zone and didn't let the game flow. But hopefully we cn learn from this."
The top of the first inning look to start in the Crimson and Black's favor.
Cameron McGrath took a hit by pitch in the game's first pitch.
Justin Hampson them managed to get to first on a sacrifice bunt that turned into a fielding error.
SSU pitcher Rylan Tinsley then settled in and fanned three of the next batters.
Derek Lohr managed to load the bases after being walked but the Warriors escaped the top of the frame without surrendering a run.
Brayde Hirai got the starting nod on the hill for the Crimson and Black. He had a solid first inning throwing just nine pitches as the Wildcats went three up, three down to close out the first.
SSU got two quick outs in the top of the second but
Adam Fahsel then hit a double to left center field to give CWU its first hit of the year. SSU then left Fahsel stranded as McGrath flew out to right field.
The Warriors got on the board in the second with a three-run homer to center field from Zach Jones. Hirai allowed a single and hit a batter to get two on with one out. He then struck out the next batter before giving up the two-out homer to dead center.
Tinsley continued to deal on the hill for the Warriors in the top of the third. The sophomore got a pair of strikeouts and a fly out to keep the Wildcats at bay and a 3-0 lead intact for the Warriors.
SSU got a pair of two-out hits against the Wildcats in the bottom of the third to threaten but nothing came of it. Hirai managed to get his third strikeout of the game, while
Jake Engel made a bullet throw to
Luke Smith at first who got the tag out. A fly out closed the frame and kept the score at 3-0.
Central's bats continued to struggle against the left-handed Tinsley who fanned three consecutive batters in the fourth. Hirai answered for the Wildcats throwing three strikeouts in bottom of the fourth to keep the score at 3-0.
The Warriors added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth after keeping the CWU bats at bay. Hirai loaded the bases before a two RBI single from Alexis Paz to left made it 5-0 and he got to second on the throw.
Tyler Hoefer then came in to replace Hirai but allowed two runs before closing the inning. With Paz and another runner at third, SSU brought in both in the next at bat. Matt Elser doubled to left for the two RBI hit and it was a 7-0 lead.
The lone run of the game for the Crimson and Black came in the sixth. A leadoff single from Hampson got things started. Lesmeister was then hit by pitch followed by a Lohr walk.
Jaden Hassell brought Hampson home with an RBI sacrifice fly to center to make it 7-1.
SSU got the run back in the bottom of the inning thanks to leadoff walk and a wild pitch that got a runner to second. Two batters later, an RBI double to left enter pushed the lead back to seven runs for the Warriors, 8-1.
The Wildcats never scored again in the final three innings, while the Warriors tacked on a pair of runs in the seventh to bring it to a final of 10-1. The final runs came on a two-run shot over the left field fence to secure the nine-run win for the Warriors.
Hirai finished the day with four complete innings pitched and fanned six batters. Hoefer struck out two in relief.
Colton Turner pitched the final inning in relief and registered one strikeout. Fahsel was 2-4 with a double. Hampson also added a hit going 1-2, while Hassell had the lone RBI.
"Our pitching was good today. With the exception of the two innings, our guys did a great job of staying ahead of the count. Really the two homeruns we gave up came after some defensive mistakes and being behind in the count," Coach Storey said. "We had chances to get out of both innings with minimal damage but just had some miscues at bad times. I am pretty pleased with Brayde [Hirai] and [Tyler] Hoefer. They put in solid work and even with the two innings I thought they did well. Colton [Turner] did a solid job closing the game for us too. Overall, we didn't play terrible but not being able to be outside didn't help us today. Just need to relax and get ready for tomorrow now."
The Wildcats will play a doubleheader against the Warriors on Saturday (tomorrow), with both being nine-inning contests. First pitch is set for 12 p.m.
