With two on and two out in the bottom of the first, Kevin Haynes faced his first jam as a Cougar starter.
Working with a full count, Haynes fired a cutter up and down into the zone to get a called strike three and escape his first inning as a WSU starter unscathed.
Things proceeded smoothly from there for the transfer senior from Sacramento State, who fired 5.0 scoreless innings on 71 pitches. Haynes allowed two hits and one walk while striking out five to back up an explosive offense that posted 11 runs on 13 hits.
“Having your best friends behind you in the defense and the dugout makes a big difference, having that offense there too. Love it,” Haynes said.
Senior Joey Kramer cranked his fourth home run in a 4-for-4 performance and sophomore Max Hartman led the Cougs with six RBI in a 3-for-4 showing.
WSU baseball (9-6, 1-2 Pac-12) beat UC Riverside (9-9), 11-3 Wednesday night in Riverside, California.
The Cougs loaded the bases in the top of the second. Kramer hit a lead-off single, catcher Will Cresswell reached on a fielding error and junior third baseman Cole Cramer propelled a hit through the left side.
Seniors Nate Swarts and Crew Parke struck out swinging, but Hartman ensured the Cougs did not walk away empty-handed with 3 RBI double to right. Kramer, Cresswell and Cramer scored, but Hartman was caught trying to stretch his hit into a triple and was thrown out at third to end the inning. WSU led 3-0.
Haynes struck out the first two batters he saw in the bottom of the second and stranded a runner who reached on an error.
UC Riverside starter Tyler Gebb worked a 1-2-3 inning in the third to end his outing. He pitched 3.0 innings and allowed three unearned runs on four hits while striking out four and walking one.
The next three UC Riverside pitchers each allowed at least two runs.
With a new pitcher in the game in the top of the fourth, Kramer secured his second hit in as many trips to the plate with another single, advanced to second on a wild pitch and showcased his legs to score on another Cresswell single to extend the Cougar lead to 4-0.
Cramer and Parke drew walks and Cresswell scored on a Hartman sac fly.
Haynes faced four hitters and stranded a runner at second to keep the Cougs up 5-0 after four innings.
With two outs in the top of the fifth, Kramer took a 2-1 pitch deep to left center for his fourth home run of the year. WSU led 6-0 after five innings.
Haynes worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the fifth to finish off his first career WSU start strong.
With two runners in scoring position in the top of the sixth, Hartman sent a blooper single to shallow right center to score Parke and Swarts and extend WSU’s lead, to 8-0.
WSU’s first reliever out of the pen ran into trouble, seeing each of UC Riverside’s three runs added to his line. Yakima College transfer Carson Judd pitched 0.1 innings and allowed three runs on two hits with one walk.
Senior Andrew Baughn allowed his inherited runner to score, adding the third and final UC Riverside run to Judd’s line. Tyler Weaver hit the RBI double to cut into the Cougar lead, but the Cougs ensured it was merely a blip in an otherwise fantastic team effort. Baughn faced three more batters and found two more outs to end the inning.
Sophomore Griffen Sotomayor pinch-hit for DH Casen Taggart and got aboard with a lead-off single.
Sotomayor advanced to second on Kramer’s fourth hit and third single of the game and made it to third on a fielder’s choice before scoring on a Cramer single.
After striking out twice, Swarts drilled a double to left to score Cramer and made it home himself several minutes later thanks to a Parke sac-fly. WSU led 11-3.
Sophomore Ryan Orr of Tumwater High School pitched a scoreless seventh and struck out two. Senior Duke Brotherton of Mercer Island High School was tasked with securing the final six outs.
Brotherton had allowed a run in each of his four 2024 appearances and at least three runs in his last three.
On Wednesday night, he threw his first scoreless outing of 2024, striking out three and walking none in 2.0 innings to lock down the Cougars 11-3 non-conference win.
WSU headed 50 miles northwest to Los Angeles to face UCLA for a three-game set. The Cougs lost game one versus UCLA 4-1, Friday and play game two at 2 p.m. Saturday. The UCLA Live Stream will broadcast the game.
