TURLOCK —
Erek Bolton finally ended a marathon as Stanislaus State wins a CCAA series over Sonoma State for the first time ever after a dramatic 7-6 win in 11 innings Sunday afternoon.
Bolton slapped a single pass Sonoma State third baseman to score
Alexis Paz to end the four-plus hour game in the series finale.
The Warriors improved to 9-1 overall and 3-1 in the CCAA and took a conference series from Sonoma State (2-7, 1-3 CCAA) for the first time.
WARRIORS OF THE GAME
•
Erek Bolton was the hero with the walk-off single in the 11
th to cap a 2-for-5 day.
•
Alexis Paz went 3-for-6 and score twice, including the game-winner. He started the final inning with a single.
•
Grant Bunker belted a two-run dinger in the fourth to give Stan State a 6-5 lead.
•
Zach Jones was 2-for-5 with two doubles. He drove in Bunker in the third to start a three-run rally. The rally answered a SSU 4-run third.
•
Jayce Gardner had two hits, including a RBI double in the third.
•
Blake Jantz threw three shutout innings from the fifth through the seventh.
•
Anthony Ramirez threw 1 1/3 innings and struck out three.
•
Bobby Garcia threw the final 1 1/3 innings, without allowing a hit, to earn the win to improve to 2-0.
POSTGAME INTERVIEW WITH EREK BOLTON
SERIES TALLIES
•
Matt Elser batted .455 in the four game series. He had five hits and drove in six runs.
•
Grant Bunker and
Zach Jones each had six hits in the series.
• Eight of the nine Warriors in the batting order had four or more hits during the series.
• As a team, Stan State batted .331 (SSU batted .220) with a 3.25 ERA (SSU pitchers posted a 6.21 ERA)
• The Warriors out-scored Sonoma State 31-16.
FIRST CCAA SERIES WIN AGAINST SONOMA
• Stanislaus State took three games of the four-game set against Sonoma State for its first series win during the CCAA era.
• The Warriors split with Sonoma State in 2017, 2016, 2010, 2008, 2006 and 2005.
• The Warriors actually won the season series in 2008, but some of the those games were non-conference games. The teams were 2-2 during CCAA play in 2008.
GREAT START
The Warriors are now 9-1, one win shy of matching the 10-1 start in 2011.
ON DECK
Stanislaus State will hit the road for the first time this season with a four-game series at Cal State East Bay next weekend. The first game is Friday at 2 p.m.
