Washington State University Athletics
Cougars Use Seven-Run Sixth To Beat No. 14 Washington
May 14, 2016 | Baseball
SEATTLE – Washington State used a seven-run sixth inning to take the series-opener at No. 14 University of Washington 9-3 at Husky Ballpark Friday evening.
The Cougars (16-28, 9-16 Pac-12) recorded 13 hits and were led by Trek Stemp and Shane Matheny who each collected three hits while Matheny also drove in three runs. Weston Hatten and Ty Johnson also added two hits apiece. Reliever Colby Nealy earned the win after getting two big outs to strand a runner on third in the fifth and Ryan Walker tallied his four save after throwing four scoreless innings to seal up the win.
Washington (27-17, 13-9 Pac-12) held a 3-1 run lead in the sixth before the Cougars used six hits in the seventh to blow the game open. UW starter Noah Bremer took the loss after allowing five earned in 5.1 innings.
Washington took advantage of two walks to lead off the second, bunting them over before beating out a softly hit infield single to first base to score the first run of the game. The next batter pulled a single through the left side for a 2-0 UW lead.
The Cougars came back with a run in the third inning as Stemp led off the inning with a line drive single to right centerfield and moved up to second after a sacrifice bunt by Dugan Shirer. Stemp later moved to third as Patrick McGrath hammered a pitch deep and just shy of the centerfield wall. Stemp was then balked home to make it a 2-1 game.
The Huskies got the run back in the fourth with a hit-by-pitch, a balk and a base hit before a sacrifice fly bought home run for a 3-1 lead. UW threatened to add another in the fifth but right-handed reliever Nealy entered the game and got a popup and flyout to keep it a 2-run game.
Washington State got to UW starter Noah Bremer with four runs in the sixth. Johnson led off the inning reaching on an error before McGrath and Hatten each singled through the left side to load the bases with one out. Jack Strunc came through with an RBI-single, lining a 1-2 pitch into centerfield to score Johnson and Matheny followed by pulling a pitch into right centerfield two score two more. Stemp tallied his third hit of the night with a bloop double just inside the right field line to push the lead to 6-3. One batter later, Johnson, hitting for the second time in the inning, lined the first pitch he saw to right field to score Matheny and Stemp as Stemp ran through a stop-sign at third base before sliding in before the tag was applied for an 8-3 WSU advantage.
Walker entered in the sixth and posted scoreless sixth and seventh innings, stranding two with a strikeout to end the seventh. The right-hander worked around two walks in the eighth before ending the game with a flyout in the ninth.
Cougar starter Damon Jones allowed three runs in 4.1 innings while Walker tallied four strikeouts.
GAME NOTES…Stemp recorded his team-leading f 3-hit game of the season and 17th multiple-hit game…Nealy earned his first career win…Jones saw his hitless streak end at 10 innings, he had three no-hit innings at Oregon, five against Utah and didn't allow a hit in the first inning against Washington…the Cougars continue the series at Washington Saturday at 4 p.m. on the Pac-12 Network
