May 8, 2006
PULLMAN, Washington - Washington State (31-17) scored five runs on four home runs in the bottom of the eighth to come from behind and beat Utah Valley State 6-5 on Monday afternoon. The win gives the Cougars the series win in a competitive series that had three one-run games.
Utah Valley (16-34) led 4-1 heading into the bottom of the eighth before Travis Coulter cut the lead to 4-2 with a solo shot.
Following a fly-out, Jared Prince singled to bring Jim Murphy to the plate as the tying run. Murphy came up big, with a two-run blast to left-center to knot it at four.
Then, with two-out in the inning, Jeff Miller and Zach McAngus hit back-to-back solo home runs to give WSU a 6-4 lead.
The Wolverines threatened in the ninth after back-to-back singles by Keiki Albino and Eli Slesk and a sac fly RBI by Chris Benson, but Josh Williamson got Canyon Vance to ground out to first to end the ball game.
Brett Guerrero (3-4) suffered the loss while Reese Baker (2-2) earned the win after throwing 1.1 perfect innings. Williamson earned his first save after getting the final two outs of the game.
Ryan Jessop did not factor into the decision but had his best outing of the season, lasting 7.1 innings and allowing four runs on six hits. Through seven innings, Jessop had allowed just one run on three hits while striking out three.
Early on, Washington State loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the first but a incredible diving catch by Nick Connor on a line drive by Paul Gran limited the damage to just one run.
Dan Bulow tied it up in the fourth with his 10th home run of the year, a line shot to left-center that hit the top of the wall before bouncing over.
The score stayed tied a one until the top of the sixth when the Wolverines plated three runs.
With men at second and third and one out, Washington State elected to intentionally walk Bulow to bring up Cory Newton and a chance at a double play.
Newton made the Cougars pay with a two-run double to left center, scoring Chris Benson and Adam Openshaw and giving UV a 3-1 lead.
Reno Mendenhall followed Newton with an RBI single to give the Wolverines a 4-1 lead. The score stayed that way until the fateful eighth inning.
The Wolverines have a quick turnaround with a game tomorrow at 3 p.m. against the University of Utah at Ute Field in Salt Lake City.
