PULLMAN, Wash. – Joe Pistorese threw his fourth complete-game of the season and Shane Matheny added two hits and three runs as Washington State defeated Washington 8-3 in front of a season-high crowd of 2,581 Friday night at Bailey-Brayton Field.
The victory clinched the Cougars (17-16, 5-9) second-straight conference series win while Pistorese moved into a tie for the national lead in complete games.
Pistorese, the reigning Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week, allowed three runs on six hits, striking out eight and walking just one en route to his second-straight complete game. With the nine innings of work, he moved into second place on WSU's career innings list, two shy of Robert Ramsay's mark of 326.
The Cougars opened the scoring in the bottom of the second. Cameron Frost led off with a triple to right and came home on Matheny's double to right-center. Tyler McDowell followed with a bouncer up the middle to plate Matheny and give WSU a 2-0 lead.
Husky starter Tyler Davis settled down after the second, surrendering just two hits over the next three innings, keeping the game within striking distance. Washington (18-14, 5-9) tied the game in middle innings on solo home runs by Branden Berry in the fourth and Josh Cushing in the fifth.
In the sixth the Cougars regained the lead for good as Frost and Matheny had back-to-back singles to open the inning. Two outs later and with the bases loaded, Jack Strunc's RBI single to short plated Frost. On the play the throw got away from the first baseman Berry, allowing Matheny to come home, giving WSU the 4-2 advantage.
The Cougars chased Davis in the seventh and broke the game open. Brandon Choate entered in relief with runners at first and second and no outs. Two outs later Ben Roberts drew a bases-loaded walk to bring home the first run and J.J. Hancock, the hero from Thursday's series-opening win, followed with a two-run double down the left-field line, extending the lead to 7-2.
WSU added a run in the eighth as pinch-hitter Daniel Fredrickson singled home Haakon Lande with two outs for the 8-2 lead. Washington added a one-out, solo home run off the bat of Alex Schmidt in the ninth to close out the scoring.
The Cougars collected 13 hits on the night which marks the third time in the last five games WSU has produced double-digit hits. Derek Chapman led the way with three hits while Frost and Matheny each had two.
These same two teams conclude the series Saturday at Bailey-Brayton Field. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. and will be televised by the Pac-12 Networks.
