Feb. 27, 2000
Box Score
SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- Washington State senior third baseman Ray Hattenburg went 3-for-5 with a two-run home run and three RBI to lead the Cougars to a 6-3 victory over the San Diego State Aztecs Sunday afternoon at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
With the win, the Cougars salvaged the final game of the weekend series to prevent a sweep by the Aztecs and improved their season record to 5-9. With the loss, the Aztecs record fell to 10-8 on the year
Through the first four innings WSU starter Reggie Rivard and SDSU ace Ben Julianel were locked in a pitchers duel with each not allowing a run to cross the plate. The two starters ended up taking no-decisions. Rivard pitched well in his outing leaving with a 3-2 lead at his back with no outs in the fifth, but did not pitch the minimum five innings to pick up the win.
WSU finally chipped away at Julianel with a three-run, two-out rally in the fifth inning. The Cougars rattled off five consecutive two-out singles to fuel the scoring attack. Center fielder Mike Knight and left fielder Evan Hecker started the rally with singles to center field. Shortstop Shawn Stevenson plated WSU's first run with a single through the left side of the infield and Stefan Bailie followed with a line drive to left field to score Hecker. Hattenburg staked WSU to a 3-0 lead with WSU's fifth consecutive single to push home Stevenson.
SDSU forged back into the game with two runs in the bottom of the inning. Billy Montgomery put the Aztecs on the board with a run-scoring double to score shortstop Edgar Gonzalez. Montgomery later came around to score after consecutive bunt singles by Rory Shortell and Andy Litteral to chase Rivard from the game. WSU reliever Matt O'Brien entered the game with two on and quickly scorched the SDSU rally with three quick outs.
The Aztecs momentarily pulled even with the Cougs in the sixth when Montgomery clubbed his second run-scoring double in as many innings. Montgomery ended the day 2-for-4 with two RBI. WSU retook the lead in the top of the seventh when pinch hitter Justin Williams scored the eventual game winning run on a two-out wild pitch.
The Cougs added two insurance runs in the top of the ninth to push their lead to the final score of 6-3. Hattenburg provided the big blow to the Aztecs with a two-run home run for his second long ball in as many games. The senior third baseman finished the day 3-for-5 to up his season average to .296. With his 4-for-10 performance in the series, Hattenburg stayed true to being a thorn in the side of the SDSU Aztecs with a .467 (14x30) average in nine career games.
John Skinner was saddled with the loss for SDSU allowing the winning run to cross the plate. Skinner is now 0-3 for the year.
O'Brien held tough down the stretch, scattering five hits and only one run in five innings to improve his season record to 2-0 and ERA to an impressive mark of 2.55. The outing by O'Brien capped a phenomenal weekend of pitching by the Cougar bullpen in which O'Brien, Lanakila Niles and Zach Fisher posted a combined 1.59 ERA in 11.1 innings.
Offensively, the Cougars were led by Hattenburg's three-hit game and two-hit attacks from Stevenson, Bailie and Knight. With Bailie's 2-for-4 effort, the redshirt freshman has now recorded a hit in all 14 of WSU's games in 2000. The Cougar defense, while shaky at points with three errors, came up big on three occasions to kill potential SDSU rallies with double plays.
The Cougars will return to action next weekend with their first Pac-10 Conference series of the year. WSU will travel to Berkeley, Calif., for a three-game set with the Golden Bears at Evans Diamond. The Cougars split a six-game series vs. the Golden Bears last year and won one of two conference games in Pullman. The Bears are 5-10 in 2000 after being swept by third-ranked Stanford in a non-conference series this past weekend.
WSU 000 030 102 - 6 12 3
SDSU 000 021 000 - 3 9 1
Reggie Rivard, Matt O'Brien (5) and Ryan Smith.
Ben Julianel, John Skinner (6), Marcos Mendoza (7), Chris Dunwell (8), and Brandon Rogers.
W - O'Brien (2-0), L - Skinner (0-3), S - None, HR - Hattenburg (2).
T - 3:10, A - 513.
WSU Hits - Bailie 2, Stevenson 2, Knight 2, Hecker, Hattenburg 3, Williams, Nilsen.
SDSU Hits - Rogers, Montgomery 2, Shortell 2, Litteral, Chop 2, Pierce.
E - Bailie 2 (3), Hattenburg (8), Rogers.
2B - Bailie (4), Montgomery 2.
c-o-u-g-s
Copy by Jeff R. Evans
WSU Sports Information
