TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Washington State closed its season-opening eight-game road trip with a 9-3 defeat to the University of Alabama at Sewell-Thomas Stadium Saturday afternoon. The start was delayed two hours by rain and there was another 45-minute rain delay in the middle of the fourth inning.
WSU (2-6) received a two-hit game from catcher
Cal Waterman and also saw freshman second baseman
Jack Smith record a hit in his fifth straight game. The Crimson Tide improved to 7-0 after opening the game with a two-out two-run single in the first inning and a pair of two-out RBI singles in the second and third innings for a 4-0 advantage.
The Cougars got on the board in the fourth after
Justin Harrer was hit by a pitch,
Jack Smith rolled a single back up the middle and
JJ Hancock bunted them up a base before
Cal Waterman scored Harrer with an RBI-groundout to first base. In the fifth, WSU loaded the bases and pushed two runs across the first coming after
Blake Clanton was hit by a pitch and the second after a
Justin Harrer sacrifice fly to right field to cut the Alabama lead to 4-3.
The Crimson Tide answered in their half of the fifth with an RBI-single through the left side for a 5-3 advantage. Alabama pushed three more runs across in the seventh, one on a solo home run before two runs came across after a Cougar error before adding one more in the eighth for a 9-3 lead.
Alabama starter Sam Gardner went four innings and allowed one run while WSU starter
Scotty Sunitsch took the loss after allowing four runs on six hits in three innings. Cougar reliever
Ryan Walker struck out five in 3.2 innings for work.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Scotty Sunitsch made career appearance No. 73, eighth-most in WSU history.
Cal Waterman had two hits, his first multiple-hit game of 2018.
Jack Smith singled in the 4
th inning, he has hit safely in five straight games.
Danny Sinatro walked in the 6
th inning, has reached base in all eight games in 2018.
STAT OF THE DAY
Alabama had five two-out RBI including the first four runs of the game.
UP NEXT
The Cougars return to Pullman to open up an eight-game homestand beginning with a four-game series against Sacramento State.
MOMENTS OF DAY
