SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Washington State brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth inning but Santa Clara held off the rally with a pair of strikeouts, preserving a 3-1 win Saturday afternoon.
 
The Cougars received three hits from Dillon Plew and two from Garrett Gouldsmith while junior starter Dylan Steen worked five innings, allowed two earned runs on six hits and struck out four. WSU put runners on base throughout the afternoon but struggled to come up with the clutch hit, leaving 11 runners on base.
 
In the first, Santa Clara used a pair of singles and a wild pitch before an RBI-groundout for the early 1-0 advantage. Cougar junior starter Dylan Steen settled and posted scoreless frames in the second and third innings before SCU started their half of the fourth with a solo homer.
 
WSU had their chances early, leaving runners on the corners in the first inning, left a runner on second in the second inning and left two on in the fourth inning. The Cougars were at it again in the fifth inning, loading the bases after three one-out straight singles from Plew, Danny Sinatro and Andres Alvarez. SCU starter Keegan Mccarville recorded the second out of the inning with a fielder's choice groundout that saw him field a comebacker and flip to the catcher for the force out at home. Kyle Manzardo followed by hammering a pitch deep to centerfield by the Santa Clara centerfielder made a nice catch on the run at the warning track for the final out.
 
In the sixth inning, the Cougars received two-out singles from Gouldsmith and Kodie Kolden and Gouldsmith scored on the Kolden single through the left side after the SCU left fielder made an errant throw back into second base. The next WSU hitter, Plew lined a ball towards the leftcenterfield gap but the Bronco centerfield raced over to make the catch to preserve the 2-1 lead.
 
In the seventh, SCU used a Cougar error, a walk and a pair of wild pitches to push a run across for a 3-1 advantage.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Dillon Plew led off the game with an infield single, has reached base in all 7 games in 2019
Plew recorded 3 hits, his 1^st 3-hit game of the season and 9^th of his career
Danny Sinatro singled in the 5^th to extend his on-base streak to 6 straight games
Andres Alvarez singled in the 5th, has hit safely in 4 straight games
Gouldsmith recorded his 2^nd straight 2-hit game
The WSU bullpen combined for three no-hit innings
Bryce Moyle worked 1.1 scoreless innings out of bullpen, struck out 2
Trevor Ichimura retired the only two batters he face in the 8^th, strikeout and flyout
 
NEXT UP
The series wraps up Sunday at Noon.
 
TOP MOMENTS

Nice work by Dylan Steen with a 1-2-3 5th inning, ending the frame with his 4th K of the day!

T6, 2-0 SCU#GoCougs pic.twitter.com/rhIAZGmXky

— Washington State Baseball (@Cougbaseball) February 23, 2019