Rosen carries WSU baseball over Spartans

Junior+outfielder+Yale+Rosen+awaits+an+at-bat+during+a+home+game+against+Western+Carolina%2C+Friday%2C+Feb.+21.

Junior outfielder Yale Rosen awaits an at-bat during a home game against Western Carolina, Friday, Feb. 21.

The slugger in the middle of the WSU Cougar lineup lived up to his job on Saturday at Bailey-Brayton Field. 

 Yale Rosen smashed a grand slam that put the Cougars ahead late in the resumed game from Friday, and he hit another home run in the first inning of the third game in the series as well. WSU won the resumed game by a score of 12-9, and the full game, 4-2. 

 “I just took advantage of the opportunities that were presented to me,” Rosen said. “It was a big situation in the first game and I tried not to get too big and just tried to make a good swing on the ball, and it happened for me. I didn’t go up there thinking it was going to happen.”

 Rosen also showed off his speed with a triple down the right field line in the bottom of the sixth. That hit drove in P.J. Jones from second base after he struck out and reached first on a wild pitch. 

 The third game of the series came down to the wire as both teams were tied 2-2, heading into the bottom half of the eighth inning. Third baseman Nick Tanielu broke it open with a double to left-center field that drove in two runs. Senior Collin Slaybaugh got to first on a throwing error by the shortstop, and then advanced to second when the ball trickled toward the fence behind the bag. 

 Then Jones walked to bring up Rosen, who almost came through again, but this time was retired on a hard line drive to center field. That set the stage for Tanielu, who laced the ball into the outfield gap to break the tie. 

 “Today the juniors of our team got together and we decided we need to make a change, and it needs to happen today,” Rosen said. “I think it started to show on the field today. I don’t know if it looked differently in the stands, but I know that inside the dugout, there was a different aura about us.”

 Defensive woes plagued the Cougars once again in Game 2 of the series. After committing three errors in Game 1, WSU made three more errors on Friday before the game was postponed. 

 In the top of the fourth, the Cougars committed two of those errors, which led to two runs for the Spartans. Left fielder Matt Lopez reached base after an error by Michael Monda at first. Monda had made a diving play for an out just an inning earlier.

 Monda made another error in the inning which allowed designated hitter Brett Bautista to advance all the way to third. Lopez would score on the play, and Bautista came around when the next batter, shortstop Alec de Watteville, hit a sacrifice fly. 

 Monda made up for his mistakes in the bottom half of the inning with a two-out RBI single to tie the game at 4-4. Senior right fielder Collin Slaybaugh had kept the inning alive with an RBI double deep to right center and narrowly scored on the ball Monda snuck through the hole between shortstop and third. The Cougars tallied three runs on four hits in the inning. 

 WSU starter Joe Pistorese could not get out of the top of the fifth inning, though, as the Spartans loaded the bases with one out. Pistorese exited as heavy rain fell onto the field, which put the game into the delay. The Cougars ended up having enough fire power to overcome the stoppage in play. 

 “It just comes down to coming here and having fun,” Rosen said. “If you love the game, you’ll have the same attitude every day.”

 The final game of the series is scheduled to start tomorrow at 2 p.m.