Hornets fall in finals
Image: Hornets fall in finals:Washington State’s Justin McClure forces out Jack Arroyo (2) while turning the double play Sunday in Washinton’s’ 6-2 win.Photo by David Martin Olson/State Hornet:
February 25, 2004
A three-game winning streak came to an end for the Hornets when they fell to Washington State 6-2 in the championship game of the River City Classic on Sunday.
Washington State jumped out to a 6-0 lead after a five-run barrage against starter Justin Deme in the fourth inning.
Sacramento State’s runs came courtesy of solo homers by Brett Flowers and Andy Hnilo. Flowers hit his first of the year in the fourth inning, while Hnilo added his third of the year and second of the tournament in the sixth inning.
Deme suffered his first loss of the season after giving up six runs in four innings of work.
The Hornets advanced to the championship after a thrilling 7-6 victory over the University of San Francisco on Saturday.
John Acha’s two-run walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth completed a Hornet comeback that sent the team into celebration.
With the Hornets trailing 6-2 in the eighth inning, Brett LeVier’s three-run homer cut the lead to 6-5.
After Craig Johnson led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk, Acha came up and belted the game-winning homer, his fifth of the season.
The tournament weekend began with an 8-2 Hornet win over St. Mary’s on Friday thanks to seven shut out innings by starting pitcher Ethan Katz.
Katz was nearly untouchable, allowing just four hits while improving his record to 3-0.
“Each start he has been better,” assistant coach Rusty McClain said.
Hnilo smacked a two out, two-run homer in the bottom of the third to put the Hornets up 3-0. The Hornets would run the score up to 7-0 by the fifth inning.
Center fielder Ronnie Machado Jr. shined defensively in the top of the fifth inning with a spectacular diving catch that saved a run and squashed St. Mary’s best opportunity to score.
The Hornets are now 9-5 on the season after finishing as the runner up in the weekend tournament.
“I was extremely pleased with how the tournament went as a whole,” Smith said. “It was great for the community to see a variety of good baseball teams.”
The Hornets played UC Davis on Tuesday but results were not available by press time.
