Friday's PNW College Baseball Scores

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Pittsburgh 3, Washington 2 – The Pittsburgh Panthers edged out the Washington Huskies 3-2 in a tight pitching duel on Friday afternoon at Whataburger Field in Corpus Christi, Texas. The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the third when Pittsburgh’s Ryan Zuckerman smashed a solo home run to right-center. Washington responded with two runs in the fifth and seventh innings, including an RBI single by Colin Blanchard and a sacrifice fly by Cam Clayton. However, Pittsburgh chipped away with a run in the sixth on a Turner Grau sacrifice fly. In the ninth, Zukerman hit a walk-off home run, his 2nd of the day, to pull out the victory.

Panthers starter Ryan Andrade struck out nine over 4.2 innings before giving way to the bullpen. Phil Fox earned the win in relief with 2.2 scoreless innings. The Huskies got a strong start from Jared Engman (5 IP, 4 H, 2 R) but fell just short.

Washington State 6, Kentucky 4 – The Cougars held on to defeat the Kentucky Wildcats 6-4 on Friday at the 2024 Karbach Round Rock Classic. After the Wildcats scored one in the first, the Cougars responded in the 4th inning to take a 3-1 lead, highlighted by a 2 RBI triple from Nate Swarts. They extended the lead to 4-1 in the 5th when Jacob Morrow reached base on an error, later scoring on an RBI ground out from Casen Taggart. Kentucky attempted a comeback, plating 2 runs in the bottom of the 7th, one on an RBI single by McCarthy. But Washington State responded with 2 runs of their own in the 8th on RBI walks from Swarts and Crew Parke to go up 6-3. The Wildcats managed another run in the 8th on a sacrifice fly before the Cougars shut the door.

Starter Gabe Taylor earned the win for Washington State, allowing just 1 run over 6 innings. Nate Swarts paced the offense by going 2-3 with 3 RBIs and a triple. Ethan Pitre had Kentucky’s lone multi-hit game, going 2-3 with a double and RBI. Reliever Collin Grillo picked up the save for the Cougars. Both teams stranded 8 runners on base. The Cougs win hands Kentucky their first loss of the year.

#6 Vanderbilt 12, Gonzaga 2 – The Vanderbilt Commodores took care of Gonzaga in a 12-2 rout on Friday afternoon at Hawkins Field. After a 2-run single from Peyton Miller in the top half of the 2nd inning, Vanderbilt got on the board when second baseman Jayden Davis launched a solo home run in the bottom half. Vanderbilt added a run in the fifth before tacking on three more in the sixth, highlighted by Jack Bulger’s solo home run. The Commodores then added three more runs in the eighth, punctuated by pinch hitter Mason Holcomb’s two-run blast to run-rule the Bulldogs.

The Gonzaga bats never got going, managing just five hits in the game. Starter Liam Paddack took the loss for Gonzaga, allowing six runs over four innings. Carter Holton earned the win for Vandy, tossing five scoreless frames while Greyson Carter closed it out with three shutout innings of relief.

Seattle U 7, San Jose State 0 – The Seattle University Redhawks erupted for six runs in the top of the ninth inning to put away the San Jose State Spartans 7-0 on Friday afternoon.

The game was scoreless until the Redhawks pushed across a run in the fourth on an RBI groundout by Ryne Hays. The Spartans threatened in the sixth and seventh innings, getting runners into scoring position, but couldn’t break through against SU starter Blake Smith, who tossed seven shutout innings, allowing 5 hits and striking out 3. The Redhawks broke open the close game in the ninth, taking advantage of two SJSU relievers. Jackson Reed walked to lead off the 9th and came around to score on a Tyler Peterson RBI single. Cameron Dayton and Cole Kleckner would add RBI knocks before Grant Heiser put the game out of reach with a towering 3-run homer. Heiser finished with 3 RBIs, while Kleckner, Peterson, Dayton, and Hays each had drove home 1.

Blake Smith and Cam Dayton, who earned the save tossing 2 innings and striking out 2, combined on the shutout for SU, limiting the Spartans to 6 hits.

G1: #19 Northwest Nazarene 10, #12 Colorado Mesa 8

G2: #12 Colorado Mesa 2, #19 Northwest Nazarene 1 (7)

FULL RECAP

Montana State Billings 25, MSU Denver 13 – In a high-scoring affair, Montana State Billings exploded for 25 runs on 28 hits to defeat MSU Denver 25-13 on Friday.

The Yellowjackets had the bats booming all day, slugging 8 home runs in the contest. Shortstop Zack Blaszak led the charge going 4-6 with a homer, two doubles and 3 RBIs. Left fielder Payton Flynn also went yard twice, driving in 5 runs on a 4-5 performance. Third basemen Kaden Kirshenbaum contributed was a perfect 5-for-5 with two doubles, two home runs, 4 runs scored and 4 RBIs. Kaden Bertram, Garrett Smith, and Ryan Jeffrey each homered as well.

On the mound, Jackson Betancourt earned his 2nd win for MSU Billings, pitching 6 innings while allowing 8 runs and striking out 6. Sage Wayment pitched a scoreless 7th and 8th inning before turning the 9th over to Lance Schaff who recorded the final 3 outs.

G1: Saint Martin’s 4, George Fox 3 – In a low-scoring pitcher’s duel, Saint Martin’s edged out the George Fox 4-3 on Friday.

GFU struck first on a Jonathan Stone RBI single that scored Jeremy Sangalang in the bottom of the first. The game would remain 1-0 GFU until the 6th. After the Saints Rylen Miyaski reached on an error, Austin Schaler would bring him home on a single to left to tie the game.

The Saints broke through in the 7th after catcher Mark Steward led off with a double, Rylen Miyasaki laced a two-run single up the middle to snap the scoreless tie. Miyasaki would later score in the inning of a sacrifice fly from Dylan McLaughlin.

The Bruins made it interesting in the 9th. They would get the tying-run to 3rd and winning run to 2nd base before SMU closer Nikki Scott got a pop-out to end it.

Saints starter Cole Hatton kept the Bruins lineup in check over 5 innings, allowing just 1 run and striking out 4. Catcher Mark Steward paced the Saints offense going 3-4 with a double. For the Bruins, starter Caleb Debban was solid over 6 frames, striking out 10 while giving up 1 run. Second baseman Jared Miller led George Fox at the plate, going 2-2 with a double and scoring a run.

G2: Saint Martin’s 12, George Fox 3 – The Saint Martin’s Saints exploded for 10 runs in the sixth inning to beat the George Fox Bruins 12-3 on Friday.

The Saints were led by center fielder Austin Schaler who went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI. Third baseman Dylan McLaughlin also had a big day, going 2-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI. Damon Ingram (DH) reached base three times, going 3-for-3 with two runs scored, two RBIs and a double.

For the Bruins, right fielder Evan Balingit went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs while Noah Meffert was 2-for-3 with a triple and a run scored. The Saints tied the game at 1 in the fifth before George Fox responded with two runs in the bottom half for a 3-1 advantage. But Saint Martin’s broke it open in the sixth, sending 10 men to the plate and scoring 10 runs. Six singles, a double, two hit batters and a passed ball fueled the big inning. Saints reliever Bryson Nakamoto shut down the Bruins over the final two innings to secure the win.

G1: Willamette 13, SUNY Oneonta 1 (7)

G2: Willamette 13, SUNY Oneonta 12

G1: Linfield 6, Central Washington 0

G2: Central Washington 6, Linfield 5

Whitworth 14, Schreiner 6 – The Whitworth Pirates used a four-run first inning and 17 hits to roll past the Schreiner Mountaineers 14-6 on Friday. Kevin Corder powered the Pirates offense, going 3-for-3 with a grand slam home run in the 1st. Catcher Aaron Clogston added a solo home run in the 5th. Elijah Tanner and Spencer Shipman also had a big days at the plate. Tanner finished 3-for-5 with a double 2 RBIs, and 2 stolen bases while Shipman had 2 hits, a double, 2 RBI, and a stolen base.

Starter Hunter Dryden picked up the win for Whitworth, allowing no runs on 5 hits over 6 innings, striking out 4. The Mountaineers attempted a late comeback, plating 6 runs in the bottom of the 8th, but it wasn’t enough. Relief pitcher Dillon McCardle shut the door in the 9th to secure the victory for the Pirates, who remain undefeated on the young season at 5-0.