Washington State University Athletics
Cougars Fall in Nonconference Contest at Seattle
May 11, 2016 | Baseball
BELLEVUE, Wash. – Washington State dropped a 7-4 nonconference contest at Seattle University behind an eighth-inning rally by the Redhawks at Bannerwood Park Wednesday afternoon.
The Cougars (15-28) evened the game with a run in the sixth but Seattle used a three-run home run in the eighth to claim the first meeting between the two programs since 2014. Senior Patrick McGrath collected two hits and Stefan Van Horn drove in two runs.
Seattle loaded the bases the first inning and used a two-out two-run single through the left side for a 2-0 lead. The Cougars answered with three runs in the second. McGrath started the inning with a sharply hit ball through the right side and Weston Hatten blooped a single into right field. Van Horn dug in with one out and pulled a pitch deep into the left centerfield gap for a two-run double. Jack Strunc followed by dropping a ball into the right centerfield gap to trade places with Van Horn at second and give WSU a 3-2 lead.
The Redhawks pushed two runs across in the third on a bases-loaded walk and a sacrifice fly to right field to take a 4-3 lead. Cougar left-handed reliever Ryley Widell entered the game in the third inning, allowed the two runs to score but settled in and posted scoreless fourth and fifth innings.
Washington State tied the game with a run in the sixth after Ty Johnson lined a single back up the middle to start the inning and Hatten later walked. Justin Harrer came through with a two-out hard-hit single to left field that scored Johnson.
The Cougars had a chance in the eighth as McGrath lined a single to right field and Harrer later reached on a two-out error by the Seattle third baseman that put McGrath on third and Harrer on first. Van Horn stepped in and hammered a pitch right at the centerfielder for the final out of the inning.
In the bottom half of the eighth, Seattle put two runners on with walks and took the lead with a three-run home run to left. The Redhawks closed out the game with a scoreless ninth.
Caleb McAlister and Parker McFadden each fired scoreless innings for the Cougars. Layne Bruner took the loss after surrendering the two walks in the eighth that came around to score. Connor Moore picked up the win with 2.1 innings of relief and Zach Wolf earned a save.
The Cougars will stay in Seattle to face the University of Washington in a three-game series beginning Friday at 7 p.m. on the Pac-12 Network.
