Husky Baseball: Dawgs Sweep Bakersfield
The Diamond Dawgs swept the Roadrunners of Cal State University: Bakersfield this past weekend. They won their third straight home series and moved to 15-7 on the year in the process.
The series opened with Husky ace Aaron West on the mound against CSU Bakersfield. The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the third when freshman Branden Berry singled in Jayce Ray. The Huskies added another run in the fourth with a Ty Afenir rbi. West allowed a two out, rbi double in the top of the fifth to bring the game within one run, but Caleb Brown responded quickly with a leadoff homerun to re-extend the lead to two runs. B.K. Santy tacked on his first homerun of the year to make it a 4-1 Husky lead in the sixth. After six innings of one run baseball, Aaron West left the mound in line for the win. Reliever Tyler Kane threw a scoreless frame before Nick Palewicz gave up a run in the eighth inning. In the ninth, Husky closer Joshua Fredendall threw a scoreless inning to earn his fifth save of the year and give the Huskies a win in the series opener.
The Huskies got on the board first again in the second game of the series with two runs in the second inning. With two outs, Robert Pehl doubled, Joe Meggs was hit with a pitch, Erik Forgione hit an rbi single, and junior Jayce Ray drove in Meggs with a double. Washington plated three more in the third inning. Brandon Berry singled to left and brought in two runs, although one only scored due to an error on the left fielder. Pehl drove in Berry later in the inning to increase the lead to 5-0. Thanks to an outstanding outing by freshman pitcher Tyler Davis, who was making just his second career start, the Bakersfield offense were held scoreless through six innings. Davis did make a mistake in the seventh, however, when he left a pitch up in the zone to roadrunner catcher Frank Martinez who hit a massive homerun off the scoreboard in left. Davis left the game after seven innings and gave up just one run on four hits while striking out seven. Chase Anselment and Michael Camporeale replied with back to back homeruns to right and center field respectively in the seventh. Husky reliever Adam Cimber allowed two runs to score in the eighth, but Jeff Brigham threw a scoreless ninth to complete the 7-3 victory and ensure another series win for the boys in purple and gold.
In the final game of the three game set, the Washington bats started early again, this time with four runs in the first inning. Pehl and Lamb got an rbi each, and Trevor Mitsui drove in two more with a two out single. Pehl drove in two more in the second to make it a 6-0 Washington lead. Four walks or hit by pitches led to another Husky run in to score in the fourth, and a Jayce Ray triple and Caleb Brown sacrifice fly each led to fifth inning runs. The hit parade continued in the sixth inning, as Trevor Mitsui hit a leadoff double and scored later in the inning on a B.K. Santy ground out. The eighth innings brought three more runs, two of which were unearned, across the plate for Washington, and they finished the day with thirteen runs. CSU Bakersville scored once against Husky starter Austin Voth, who threw six innings and struck out six while allowing just four hits. Four Washington relievers combined to throw a scoreless final three innings to finish an excellent weekend, and a sweep for the Dawgs.
Another great weekend for the Huskies. The Diamond Dawgs outscored their opponents 24-6 in the series. While they didn’t beat a ranked opponent like Oregon last weekend, a sweep is nothing to complain about. Only one error was committed by the udub, and even that came on a diving attempt by Caleb Brown. The bullpen had a tough inning or two, but it isn’t anything to be too concerned about. The bats showed a bit more pop this weekend than in the past, as they hit four homeruns. It was also encouraging to see the offense score early and let the pitching staff work with a lead in every game of the series.
They will have to continue to fire on all cylinders as they head down to Corvallis for a three game series at Oregon State next weekend. The series against the ranked beavers will be followed by Stanford, Gonzaga, and California, all of which are ranked as well. The Huskies have already taken two of three against a top 20 Oregon team, we will see if they can continue their winning ways.