Cougar Baseball
FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
Freshman Patrick Claussen was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the top of the seventh inning to force in the winning run as the Washington State baseball team defeated the Cougar Alumni 8-7 at Bailey-Brayton Field, Saturday.
With one out in the final inning, redshirt-freshman Joe Huwer singled through the right side off loser Garrett Kimbrel (2005-08). Freshman Erich Armstrong and Kyle Johnson each drew a walk to the load the bases before Claussen was hit.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, freshman Derek Jones struck out Zach McAngus (2004-06) and Jeff Miller (2004-07) before yielding a single to Jim Murphy (2005-08). Jones came back to fan Mike Gilbert (2006-07) looking to notch the save.
The Cougars jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning off Steve Kost (2005-07). Sophomore Shea Vucinich scored on an error and sophomore Matt Argyropoulos drilled a two-run home run to center.
The Alumni tied the game with a run in the first and a pair in the second. Bookie Gates (1999-2002) put the Alumni on the board with a RBI-single. McAngus delivered a run-scoring single in the second and Jason Freeman (2004-05) tied the game with a triple that plated McAngus.
Washington State answered with the three runs in the fourth off Dane Renkert (2004-05). Jones drove in two runs with a double and freshman Kyle Buchanan collected a RBI-single to put the Cougars on top 6-3.
The Alumni used some trickery to tally a couple of runs in the fifth. McAngus pulled a ball out of his pocket after taking a pitch from redshirt-sophomore and winner Christian DeRooy, and hit a soft toss into left field for a leadoff triple. Freeman followed with a RBI-triple and Gates knocked in a run with a two-out single to cut the deficit to 6-5.
A run-scoring single by senior Jared Prince in the top of the sixth increased the Cougars’ lead to 7-5, but the Alumni tied the game with two runs in the bottom of the frame on RBI-singles by Zach Franklin (2002, 2004-06) and Collin Henderson (2002-04), respectively.
