May 12, 2000
Box Score
PULLMAN, Wash. -- Senior center fielder Jordan Nilsen hit a two-out, two-run home run in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Washington State Cougar baseball team a 8-7 come-from-behind victory over the Cal State-Northridge Matadors in non-conference action Friday afternoon at Bailey-Brayton Field in Pullman.
The win ended an eight-game overall losing streak for the Cougars and brought a 12-game skid at Bailey-Brayton Field to a halt. WSU is now 17-33 on the year and lead the season series vs. the Matadors 4-0. CSUN fell to 21-32 with the loss.
The Cougars appeared to be in control of the game with sophomore right-hander Tyson Thompson pitching well through the first five innings despite enduring control problems. Thompson did not allow a runner past second base until the sixth inning when CSUN scored their first run.
WSU built a commanding 6-0 lead after five innings by primarily using the long ball. With a 1-0 lead, the Cougars extended their lead to 3-0 in the third with a two-run home run from redshirt freshman Stefan Bailie. With two outs, preseason All-American Jason Grove kept the inning alive with his first triple of the year, then Bailie plated two runs a tremendous home run deep over the left field fence. The two-run blast was Bailie's team-leading ninth of the year and pulled him to within three of the freshman record of 12 set by Grove in 1998.
In the fifth the Cougs added to their already commanding lead with three more runs. Grove connected on a two-run home run deep over the right field fence and a batter later third baseman David Perreira added his third homer of the year to give WSU the 6-0 lead. For Grove, the two-run blast was his third of the year, but more importantly the 33rd of his WSU career, tying him for fifth place in the WSU record books with current Seattle Mariner John Olerud.
In the eighth Thompson began to tire and loaded the bases before handing the ball over to relief pitcher Zach Fisher. With the bases loaded, second baseman Jason Gorman fisted a ball just past second baseman Bookie Gates to score two runs and bring the Matadors within three runs of the Cougs. With two outs, freshman catcher Jason Allec drove a two-strike pitch down the right field line for a bases clearing double to bring the game even at 6-6.
The Matadors pulled ahead for the first time of the afternoon in the top of the 10th frame when third baseman Bobby Koba drove a ball just over the left field fence for his fourth home run of the year. Koba's go-ahead home run came off WSU's leading pitcher Matt O'Brien.
The Cougars, who swept the Matadors with three come-from-behind victories earlier in the year at Northridge, entered the bottom of the 10th without having a walk-off victory at home since April 8, 1998, when Steve Curran belted a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to defeat the Washington Huskies.
After a leadoff walk to Bailie, a sacrifice bunt attempt by Mike Knight failed and forced Bailie out at second. After a wild pitch and an advance on a groundout, Nilsen stepped to the plate with two out and a runner on third. Nilsen took a fastball from left-handed reliever Ryan McDermott deep over the center field fence for the dramatic two-run home run, giving the Cougars the 8-7 win.
"It was a big win for us to get things moving in the right direction," Nilsen said after hitting his fourth homer of the year and third in the last five games. "We need to finish the year off strong and what batter way to do it than starting with a dramatic win like this."
O'Brien took the win out of the bullpen to improve to 8-4 on the year. McDermott took the loss to fall to 1-4. Grove ended with a 2-for-3 game to extend his current hitting streak to 11 games and raised his batting average to .322 on the year. Perreira was the only other Cougar to record more than one hit with his 2-for-4 game.
The Cougars and Matadors will continue their three-game, non-conference series tomorrow at 1 p.m. at Bailey-Brayton Field. Left-handed senior Todd Meldahl will be making his 50th career start on the mound against southpaw Andy Davidson.
CSUN 000 001 050 1 - 7 9 1
WSU 102 030 000 2 - 8 9 0
W - Matt O'Brien (8-4),L - Ryan McDermott (1-4), S - None.
HR - Koba (4), Grove (3), Bailie (9), Perreira (3), Nilsen (4).
T - 3:04, A - 224.
CSUN Hits - Stotts, Arroyo, McKenzie, Gorman, Koba 2, Allec 3.
WSU Hits - Stevenson, Hattenburg, Falkenborg, Grove 2, Bailie, Perreira 2, Nilsen.
E - Allec (8), 2B - Allec (5), 3B - Grove (1).
Copy by Jeff R. Evans
WSU Sports Information
