TURLOCK — There were many stars and story lines to talk about after the Warriors beat Cal State Monterey Bay to begin the pivotal four-game series Friday night.
First off, the Warriors extend their winning streak to nine games after winning a good collegiate baseball game, 5-3, to improve to 29-14 overall and 18-13 in the CCAA North.
Secondly, the win puts Stan State in a tie with Cal State Monterey Bay (26-17 overall) for second place. Both teams are 2 1/2 games ahead of fourth place Sonoma State with the top three earning a spot to play in the CCAA Tournament in Stockton, May 10-13.
As for the contributors to Friday night's success? There were plenty.
Nick Voumard became the Division II leader with his 13th save.
Charlie Gaff, the national leader in sacrifice hits, executed his specialty once again.
Kyle Nixon's towering, long-distance two-run blast over the tall right-field wall in the first inning set the tone early offensively. He led an army of Warriors to collect 12 hits to out-pace the offensive Otters.
Nick Ippolito went 3-for-4 with a double and
Kert Woods was 3-for-4 and scored twice. Nixon ended the night with two more hits as he leads the team with 48 hits and seven homers. He also drove in three runs to take over the team lead with 25.
On the base paths, the Warriors made some mistakes, but stole four bags — led by Woods with two.
Defensively, the Warriors were spectacular. Ippolito made some back-hand grabs and quick, strong throws.
Gino Franceschetti made a tremendous stop and
Aldo Koutsoyanopulos made a nice grab-and-tag on the receiving end of the same play. Just to name a couple of gems.
Then, of course there were the Stan State pitching.
Ace
Jordan Kron worked for his seventh win of the year. He gave up three runs, struck out five and walked two — but he was tough as nails, especially in the CSUMB seventh. With the bases loaded, one out, and one run already in, Kron got the dangerous hitter Hayden Duer to pop-up on the first pitch and Nick Vigo to strikeout looking to end the Otters rally.
Kron became the first Warrior pitcher to record back-to-back seven-win seasons during Stan State's Division II era, which began in 1989-90.
The untouchable bullpen took over in the eighth with
Jarrett Veiga striking out the side and Voumard dominated the Otters in the ninth, including two strikeouts, to close out another victory.
In fact, Cal State Monterey Bay struck out six times in its final seven at-bats. In all, three Stan State pitchers fanned 10 Otters on the night.
