HAYWARD — In another tight, see-saw battle, the Stanislaus State baseball team found a hero as
Jarrett Veiga came up big with a pinch-hit double in the ninth.
Veiga delivered the game-winning hit, scoring two runs with a double to left-center field as the Warriors beat Cal State East Bay, 4-3, to win the first game of the series at Pioneer Baseball Field.
The Warriors, played in their sixth straight one-run game, improved to 10-7 overall and 6-5 in CCAA play. It was Stan State's 11th one-run game this season.
Cal State East Bay is 6-9, 3-6 CCAA heading into Saturday's doubleheader as the series continues at 11 a.m.
Trailing 3-2 in the top of the ninth,
John Holleran drew an one-out walk before a
Nathaniel Thompson pinch-hit single. Then, Veiga stepped-up to hit for
Nikko Delgado. On a 1-2 count, Veiga smoked a line drive to left-center, scoring Holleran and Thompson to make it 4-3.
Then, as usual,
Chase Wheatcroft came in to close out the game in the ninth. After giving up a leadoff single, Wheatcroft got three ground-outs to earn his ninth save in as many chances.
Kevin Hahn improved to 2-0 on the mound by earning the win in relief of
Joe Ryan. Hahn got two outs in the eighth to bail out Ryan, who departed after allowing two hits in the inning including the go-ahead RBI single.
Ryan pitched 7 1/3 innings and gave up three runs on eight hits with three strikeouts.
Vinny Margiotta went 2-for-3 with a double and Delgado also doubled.