PULLMAN, Wash. – Weston Hatten hammered a go-ahead two-run home run in the seventh inning, leading the Cougars to a 4-1 victory over Northeastern University at Bailey-Brayton Field Friday afternoon.
The Cougars rallied from a one-run deficit with a couple clutch hits and a dominant relief appearance from sophomore right-hander Ryan Walker. The Arlington, Wash. native entered the game with two outs in the fourth and didn't allow a run the rest of the way to pick up his second win of the season. Hatten hit his first homer of the season and Trek Stemp and Jack Strunc each recorded two hits.
Walker matched the impressive performance of Northeastern (7-6) ace Aaron Civale who entered the game with a 3-0 record and a 1.61 ERA. Walker pitched a perfect fifth inning, stranded a runner in the sixth and got three straight groundouts in the seventh before the Cougars got the big swing from Hatten. Both pitchers combined to allow just one hit in the middle three innings.
Washington State entered the seventh inning trailing 1-0 after Northeastern doubled home a run in the second inning. For the Cougars, Stefan Van Horn led off the inning reaching on a wild pitch strikeout to set the stage for Hatten. The sophomore jumped on a 3-2 pitch for a two-run blast over the left centerfield fence and a 2-1 WSU lead.
In the eighth, Northeastern put a rally together with two outs, using a double, a walk and an error to load the bases and threaten WSU's 2-1 lead. Cougar third baseman Shane Matheny came up with a big defensive play, charging a slow-hit chopper and firing on the run to get the runner at first and end the inning.
In the bottom half of the eighth, the Cougar offense kept things going as Stemp started the inning with single to left center, Derek Chapman followed with a bunt single and Van Horn drew a walk to load the bases. One batter later, with two outs, Dugan Shirer lined a single back up the middle and off the glove of a diving Huskies' shortstop to score Stemp and Chapman.
Walker quickly recorded two outs to start the ninth but Northeastern recorded back-to-back singles to left field. Walker got the next batter to fly out to Shirer in centerfield and clinch the 4-1 win. Walker scattered four hits and struck out one in 5.1 innings of relief. Northeastern starter Civale took the loss after allowing four earned runs while striking out 11 in 7.2 innings.
GAME NOTES…Dugan Shirer extended his hitting streak to seven games…Derek Chapman stole his fifth base of the season, tying Shirer for the team lead…WSU starter Ryan Ward struck out four and allowed one run in 3.2 innings…the series continues Saturday at 2 p.m.
--wsucougars.com--
