Thanks to solid hitting throughout the lineup and pitching that kept Sacramento State off-balance, Seattle University was able to move into the lead in the Western Athletic Conference with its sixth straight league victory, a 5-2 win over the Hornets Friday afternoon at Bannerwood Park.
Landon Cray (Chimacum, Wash.) led off the bottom of the first inning with a double down the right field line and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Griffin Andreychuk (Nanaimo, B.C.). Sheldon Stober (Kent, Wash.) sent a fly ball deep enough to center field to allow Cray to score the first run of the game.
In the bottom of the second inning, Jack Reisinger (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.), Dalton Hurd (Bend, Ore.), and Cray earned consecutive singles, but Reisinger was thrown out at home trying to score from second base on Cray’s single. Andreychuk hit a shot past the Hornet third baseman for a double, driving in both Hurd and Cray to increase the Redhawk lead to 3-0.
Seattle U starter Skyler Genger (Kent, Wash.) walked the leadoff batter on four pitches, but settled down, retiring nine of the next 10 batters. The Hornets broke through in the fourth inning when Kyle Moses singled, advanced to second on a walk drawn by Nathan Lukes, reached third on a groundout, and scored on a single to right field by Vinny Esposito. However, Genger induced a double play grounder to end the inning with the Redhawks still ahead.
The Redhawks responded in the bottom of the fourth inning when Hurd singled, stole second base, advanced to third on a groundout, and scored on a Hornet throwing error. Seattle U added another run in the fifth when Brian Olson (Black Diamond, Wash.) led off with a single, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Michael McCann (Vancouver, Wash.), reached third on a groundout, and came in to score when Hornet reliever Justin Dillon threw a wild pitch.
After giving up the run in the fourth inning, Genger cruised through the next three innings, but he walked Gunner Pollman to lead off the eighth inning, and Scotty Burcham reached base on a Redhawk error. Moses drove in Pollman with a single to left field, and another Seattle U mistake allowed the Hornet runners to reach second and third base. Kyle Doyle (Covington, Wash.) came on in relief and retired the final Sacramento State batter of the inning to keep the Redhawks ahead.
Ky Dye (Everett, Wash.) came on in the ninth inning and allowed two singles to put two runners on base with one out. Dye struck out the next two Hornet batters to end the Sacramento State scoring threat and earn the first save of his collegiate career.
Genger picked up his fourth victory of the season, allowing four hits, three walks, and two runs, one of them earned, in 7 2/3 innings of work, plus he struck out seven batters. Sacramento State starter Brennan Leitao took the loss, giving up eight hits and four runs in four innings on the mound, while Dillon kept his team in the game by allowing just three hits and one run in his four innings of work while striking out eight Redhawk batters.
Hurd led the Redhawks offensively, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored, while Cray, Andreychuk, and Olson earned two hits apiece as Seattle U outhit Sacramento State, 11-6. Moses was the only Hornet batter with more than one hit, going 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI.
Seattle University (14-15, 7-1 WAC) will look for the sweep in the series finale Saturday, April 4, starting at 12 noon at Bannerwood Park. The game will be streamed online through the WAC Digital Network (www.wacsports.com/watch).