Seattle University lost to Washington State, 19-1, Friday night in baseball action at Bailey-Brayton Field.
Washington State (15-12) jumped on the board in the bottom of the first inning when Tommy Richards was hit by a pitch, stole second base, and scored on a single to left field by Taylor Ard. The Cougars increased their lead with two outs in the third inning when Derek Jones hit his eighth home run of the season, followed by back-to-back doubles from Ard and Patrick Claussen to give Washington State a 3-0 lead.
Seattle U starter Grant Gunning (Snohomish, Wash.) was lifted after giving up a one-out walk to Nate Blackham in the fourth inning. Blackham stole second and came around to score on a single to right field by Jason Monda. Washington State broke the game open against the Redhawk bullpen, scoring four runs in the fifth inning, two runs apiece in the sixth and seventh innings, and seven more runs in the eighth inning.
The Redhawks ended the Cougar shutout bid in the ninth inning as Ryan Somers (Sammamish, Wash.) led off with a walk, and pinch hitter Jace Sloan (Puyallup, Wash.) followed with a double to right field. Michael Tevlin (Billings, Mont.), also in a pinch hitting role, drove in Somers with a sacrifice fly to center field.
Joe Pistorese earned the victory for Washington State, allowing just three hits and one walk in seven innings, striking out seven Redhawk batters along the way. Cougar catcher P.J. Jones went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and five runs batted in, while the 3-4-5 batters for Washington State combined to hit 8-for-13 with 10 runs scored and five runs batted in.
Seattle University (14-12) and Washington State will play the final game of the weekend series Saturday, April 7, starting at 2 p.m. The Redhawks return home for a four-game series against the BYU Cougars, starting with a doubleheader Thursday, April 12, beginning at 3 p.m. at Bannerwood Park in Bellevue.