FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- April 17, 2009

Dottavio, Thelen power Warriors in doubleheader sweep

TURLOCK -- The Cal State Stanislaus offense stepped up big on Saturday, thanks mainly to the efforts of two seniors, as the Warriors scored in bunches during an 8-1, 18-3 doubleheader sweep over Northwest Nazarene at Warrior Field.

With the sweep the Warriors move to 27-14 overall, including 13-1 in non-conference play and 11-0 against the Great Northwest Athletic Conference in 2009. UC San Diego's 6-1 victory over Cal State Dominguez Hills Friday moves the Warriors to within a 1/2 game of fifth place in the California Collegiate Athletic Association with their 14-13 CCAA record. The Crusaders fall to 11-23 on the year.

In game one, the two teams were once again locked in a close game for about half the game, then the Warriors broke it open with two big innings, much like Friday's 11-3 victory that was 3-2 until the sixth. The Warriors led 2-1 through four, then extended that lead to 4-1 in the fifth inning with two runs. The damage could have been much worse after the Warriors loaded the bases with no outs in the inning and only managed to score two runs.

Cal State Stanislaus tacked on four more runs in the next inning to go up 8-1. Starting pitcher Spencer Snodgrass settled in and would give up just one run on five hits in seven innings, striking out seven and walking two for his fifth win of the year. Senior Jacob Thelen was 2-for-5 in the game with a double and three RBIs. He would finish the day going 4-for-7 with four RBIs and five runs scored. Seth Hudson, Jeff Hughes and Jake Oketani all had multiple-hit games for the Warriors in game one.

Game two was a much more sloppy game, with a total of six errors and nine unearned runs between the two teams. The Warriors jumped all over the Crusaders in the first inning, taking a 6-0 lead with five unearned runs and never looked back. Dakota Watts won his eighth game of the season by throwing four innings and giving up one earned run in game two. Watts struck out three and walked one while scattering five hits.

The story of game two was senior Leandro Dottavio. Dottavio missed hitting for the cycle by a triple, the hardest piece to get. The Warriors' first baseman drove in seven runs on a two-run homerun in the first inning, a two-run single in the second and a three-run double in the third.

Already up 14-2 in the bottom of the sixth, the Warriors tacked on four more runs to set a season-high with 18 runs. The previous season high was 17, set against another GNAC team, St. Martin's. A three-run homerun by Joseph Pilatti and an RBI single by Tomas Donnelly accounted for the Warriors' scoring in the sixth.

The Warriors stranded 15 more runners during Friday's doubleheader to make a total of 27 runners left on base through three games in the series. The Warriors have now outscored Northwest Nazarene 37-7 and have pounded out 37 hits in the series.

The four-game series concludes on Saturday with a single game an Noon. The Warriors will continue their homestand at noon Sunday with a non-conference doubleheader against NAIA member Oregon Tech.