Pitching prevails in WSU baseball road series

The two teams that played in Northridge, Calif., on Sunday afternoon could only muster two runs between them in the two games they played. 

The WSU Cougars (2-7) and the Cal State Northridge Matadors (6-5) split a doubleheader to conclude their rain-shortened series against each other. The Cougars won the first game 1-0, and then the Matadors came right back to win by the same score during the second game. 

Pitching came at a premium on Sunday as Cougar junior starter Joe Pistorese carried the team in the first game by allowing six hits in seven shutout innings. Pistorese struck out one and walked one. On the other side, Matadors’ redshirt senior starter Brycen Rutherford matched Pistorese with seven strong innings, surrendering the only run of the game and giving up three hits. 

Senior pitcher Kellen Camus and freshman pitcher Ian Hamilton each worked in an inning of shutout relief. Hamilton pitched the ninth to earn his first save. 

Junior second baseman Ian Sagdal scored WSU’s only run in the top of the fifth inning after walking with one out. Sagdal, who advanced to third base after a wild pickoff throw, came across to score on an infield hit by redshirt sophomore left fielder Ben Roberts. 

The second game featured a duel between junior pitcher Tanner Chleborad and redshirt sophomore pitcher Jordan Johnson in a game that lasted only seven innings. Chleborad allowed one run on five hits in 5 1/3 innings and suffered his second loss of the season. Johnson moved to 2-1 on the year as he threw 6 1/3 innings of four-hit ball, never letting a Cougar cross the plate. Reliever redshirt senior Shay Maltese got the last two outs, including a strikeout of Sagdal to end the game. 

All four times in the second game, the Cougars struck out looking. Sophomore center fielder Trek Stemp and redshirt junior shortstop Trace Tam Sing had two hits each, which represented the only base-knocks for WSU in the game. 

No scoring occurred until the sixth inning in the second game, when Matador junior left fielder Nick Blaser led off the bottom half of the inning with a single. He advanced to second base on a groundout and stayed there as redshirt junior right fielder Chester Pak was intentionally walked to create a chance for a double play. Camus came on for his second relief appearance of the day and walked junior designated hitter Alexis Mercado on a full count to load the bases. Pinch-hitter junior Michael Livingston hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield to score Blaser before Camus struck out senior center fielder Ranny Lowe to end the inning. 

The Cougars play again on Friday when they begin a three-game home series against Texas State.