PULLMAN, Wash. (April 22, 2023) – Washington State collected received three hits from
Jacob McKeon who doubled twice in the Cougars 8-3 series-clinching win over Santa Clara at Bailey-Brayton Field Saturday afternoon.
Washington State improved to 24-13 for its best start since 1994 after tallying 11 hits to support starter
Grant Taylor who struck out six and allowed just two hits while working into the sixth innings.
Caden Kaelber picked up the save after firing four scoreless innings and struck out five.
Santa Clara (18-15) scored three runs in the second but the Cougars answered with three in their off the second and took the lead with one in fourth and pulled away with one in the fifth and two in the sixth. McKeon had a pair of RBI-doubles,
Sam Brown doubled twice,
Kyle Russell recorded two hits and
Jonah Advincula singled, drove in two runs and scored twice for WSU.
KEY MOMENTS OF THE GAME
In the second, Santa Clara took advantage of a hit-by-pitch, an error and three walks to plate three runs in the inning. WSU answered back in their half of the inning as
Jake Harvey singled back up the middle before
Cam Magee,
Jacob Morrow and
Brandham Ponce were all hit by a pitch to bring home a run. Advincula followed with a two-run single back up the middle to even things at three.
WSU took a 4-3 lead in the fourth after Advincula was hit by a pitch, moved to third on a McKeon single and scored on a wild pitch. The Cougars added a run in the fifth on a Magee sacrifice fly before McKeon and Brown pushed the lead to 7-3 with back-to-back RBI-doubles in the sixth.
Taylor settled in after a tough second inning and fired three straight scoreless frames before exiting after facing one batter in the sixth inning. Kaelber came on to retire the first three hitters he faced in the sixth and allowed just two hits while striking out five in his four innings of work.
NEXT UP
The series wraps up Sunday at 12:05 p.m.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Sam Brown doubled in the 1
st to extend his on-base streak to 14 games
Jonah Advincula singled in the 2nd to extend on-base streak to 15 games, hitting streak to 8
Kyle Russell singled in the 3rd to extend his on-base streak to 16 games
Jacob McKeon singled in the 4
th to extend his on-base streak to 15 games
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