PULLMAN, Wash. – Washington State baseball dropped an 11-inning contest 10-9 to Utah Valley University in the third game of the series at Bailey-Brayton Field Saturday afternoon. The series-finale is set for Noon, Sunday.
The Cougars (4-7) were led by designated hitter Mason Cerrillo who went 3-for-4 with run scored and four RBI and Dugan Shirer who also collected three hits and stole two bases. Catch Stefan Van Horn hit a three-run home run, his team-leading third of the season. Freshman starting pitcher Parker McFadden struck out three, walked two and allowed four runs, two earned in 4.1 innings. Freshman Davis Baillie pitched 1.1 scoreless innings.
Utah Valley (6-6) erased a 4-0 deficit with a four-run fifth and a 7-4 WSU lead with another four runs in the sixth before scoring twice in the 11th to take the win. The Cougars out-hit UVU 14-12 and both teams each left 13 runners on base.
Washington State loaded the bases in the first inning but couldn't get a run across after lining into a double play and grounding out to end the inning. In the third, WSU again loaded the bases and Cerrillo came through with a clutch hit, pulling a 1-2 pitch down the right field line for three-run double. Shirer started the inning with a single to right, later stole second before Trek Stemp walked and Derek Chapman was hit by a pitch before Cerrillo gave the Cougars a 3-0 lead. Patrick McGrath followed with a base-hit to right, scoring Cerrillo for a 4-0 advantage.
McFadden cruised through the first four innings, holding Utah Valley off the scoreboard before running into trouble in the fifth. The Wolverines took advantage of a Cougar error to start the inning and later chased McFadden with three straight hits that pushed three runs across. A fourth run scored in the inning on a bases-loaded walk to even things up at 4-4.
Van Horn gave the Cougars the lead back in the fifth with a three-run home run to left. Wes Leow was hit by a pitch and Frost walked before Van Horn jumped on the first pitch he saw to give WSU a 7-4 advantage.
Utah Valley didn't go away in the sixth, using a pair of walks and two hits including a three-run homer to left centerfield to score four runs and take an 8-7 lead.
Washington State evened things in their half of the sixth as Cerrillo came up with another big hit. Stemp doubled to right center with one out before Cerrillo dropped a single into centerfield to score Stemp and make it 8-8.
Left-handed reliever Trenton Dupre got the Cougars out of a jam in the eighth inning, entering the game with one out and two runners on but got the final two outs to keep the game tied. In the WSU half of the eighth, pinch-hitter Weston Hatten reached on catcher's interference with two outs and Cameron Frost followed by hammering a pitch to deep centerfield but Utah Valley made the catch at the wall.
In the ninth, the Cougars put a runner on as Matheny worked a two-out walk but Shirer's opposite-field drive to left was caught by the Wolverine left fielder just in front of the wall. After Dupre pitched a perfect tenth, Washington State made another two-out rally as Cerrillo reached with an infield single and Justin Harrer punched a single to right to put two runners on. Both runners moved up a base on a passed ball but Utah Valley ended the threat with a strikeout.
The Wolverines scored twice in the 11th with a leadoff homer to left and added another run on a wild pitch that proved to be the game-winner. For WSU, Strunc led off the inning with an infield single and came around to score two batters later on Shirer's single to centerfield to cut the lead to 10-9. Stemp stepped in a hit a ball back up the middle but the Utah Valley second baseman was there to force out Shirer at second and seal up the win.
GAME NOTES…Stemp registered two hits to extend his hitting streak to 11…the series-finale is set for Sunday at Noon.
