May 7, 2006
PULLMAN, Washington - Washington State shortstop Paul Gran picked the right time to get his first hit of the series against Utah Valley State (16-33) as he delivered the game-winning walk-off single to top the Wolverines 9-8 in 11 innings on Sunday.
Wolverine reliever Marcus Moore (1-3) retired the first two hitters in the 11th before Jared Prince, Jim Murphy and Gran hit consecutive singles to end the ballgame. Prior to the final at-bat, Gran was 0-for-9 in the series.
Derrick Thomas and Adam Openshaw both hit three-run home runs in the game for Utah Valley State.
With the win Washington State (30-17) evens up the three-game series following Saturday's 6-5 Wolverine win on Chris Benson's ninth-inning RBI single.
Utah Valley State jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning on the three-run home run by Thomas, his first of the year.
The Cougars got the three runs back in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI groundout by Jeff Miller and a two-run shot by Zack McAngus.
WSU took its first lead of the series in the fifth when Jared Prince hit his second three-run blast of the series, giving the Cougars a 6-3 lead.
The Wolverines chipped away though, with a single run in the sixth on Brad Hales' RBI groundout.
Then in the seventh, Canyon Vance's RBI single cut the lead to 6-5 before Openshaw delivered his three-run homer, for his fourth round-tripper of the season, to give the Wolverines an 8-6 lead.
Travis Coulter and Jay Miller led off the bottom of the seventh with back-to-back singles, bringing up Prince again in a position put WSU back on top. But Kalen Parsons got Prince to ground into a 6-4-3 double play to limit the Cougar threat. Following the double play, Murphy singled home Coulter to cut the lead to 8-7.
In the bottom of the eighth, Scott Suttmeier hit a one-out double and advanced to third on a wild pitch before scoring the tying run on a balk by Marcus Moore.
The game stayed tied until the 11 th when Gran ended the game with his single.
Moore threw four innings, allowing two runs on six hits while striking out four in the loss. Travis Webb (3-0) earned the win after throwing three innings and allowing just one hit while striking out three Wolverines.
Utah Valley State out-hit Washington State 16-15 and got four hits from Reno Mendenhall. Openshaw had three hits for the Wolverines while Nick Connor, Chris Benson and Thomas had two hits each.
Prince was 4-for-5 with three singles and the home run for Washington State. Murphy had a three-hit day while McAngus and Suttmeier both had two hits.
Tomorrow's finale is scheduled for 12 p.m. PST and can be heard live at www.WolverineGreen.com.
