Cougar bats come alive to sweep Seattle U
WSU erased an early Seattle University lead to defeat the Redhawks 10-3.
COURTESY PHOTO/WSU ATHLETICS
PULLMAN — All nine Washington State starters recorded a hit as the Cougars finished off a two-game sweep with a 10-3 win over Seattle U at Bailey-Brayton Field Wednesday afternoon.
WSU (12-8) saw third baseman Cole Cramer collect three hits and drive in two runs while left fielder Casen Taggart, first baseman Joey Kramer and centerfielder Nate Swarts each added two hits. Swarts and Cramer each stole a base, designated hitter Griffen Sotomayor hit his first career home run and senior Duke Brotherton picked up the win with three scoreless innings of relief, striking out three along the way.
Sotomayor hit a two-run shot in the first inning, Seattle U (6-14) evened things at 2-2 with a run in third before the Cougars scored in the next four innings including three-run fifth and sixth innings en route to the 10-3 win.
KEY MOMENTS OF THE GAME
In the first inning, Seattle U used a double and pair of singles to push a run across but the Cougars answered an inning later with Sotomayor's opposite-field two-run home run to right field. The Redhawks evened things with a run in the third inning but Cole Cramer beat out an infield single to second base with two outs in the fourth inning, allowing Joey Kramer to score for a 3-2 lead.
In the fifth, WSU scored three runs, two coming on a Seattle U throwing error and the third coming on a Cramer RBI-single. The Cougars started to pull away with three runs in the sixth on a run-scoring wild pitch, a Max Hartman RBI-single to right field and a two-out RBI-single from Kramer up the middle.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Cole Cramer singled in the 2nd inning to extend his hitting streak to 7 games
• Joey Kramer singled in the 4th inning to extend his on-base streak to 13 games and hitting streak to 9 games
• Max Hartman singled in the 6th inning to extend his on-base streak to 9 games
• Nate Swarts singled in the 6th inning to extend his on-base streak to all 19 games
NEXT UP
WSU continues its homestand with a weekend series against Arizona State beginning Friday at 4:05 p.m.