University of Washington
4-1
UC Riverside (DH)
2-4
Huskies Rout Highlanders, 17-4, In Game One Of DH
February 27, 2016 | Baseball
RIVERSIDE, CALIF. – The Huskies scored 10 times in the first two innings and freshman pitcher Joe DeMers threw six innings to pick up his first collegiate win as Washington routed UC Riverside, 17-4, in game one of a double header Saturday at Riverside Sports Complex.
The Huskies pounded out 18 hits and scored in each of the first five innings. Every Husky starter had at least one hit and eight of nine recorded a RBI.
After struggling to piece together any offensive fluidity on Friday, the Huskies' offense came ready to play right away in the first inning. They sent nine batters to the plate and pounded out six hits to give the freshman DeMers a 5-0 lead before he even stepped foot on the mound for the first inning.
The first four UW batters all reached safely on hits to take a quick 2-0 lead. John Naff drove in the first run with a RBI single and clean-up hitter Josh Cushing followed with a run-scoring double. After a strikeout, designated hitter Gage Matuszak followed with a RBI single, and with two outs, Joey Morgan capped the five-run first with a two-run double down the right-field line.
The Huskies poured it on again in the second, scoring five more times off UC Riverside starter Angel Landazuri (1-1), who allowed 10 earned runs on 11 hits in two innings. With one out, the Huskies pieced together four-consecutive hits, including a RBI single by Cushing and a RBI double by MJ Hubbs. Chris Baker capped the scoring by blasting a three-run home run over the left-field fence.
The Highlanders got two runs back in the bottom of the second, but the Huskies answered in the top of the third with two of their own. Cushing drove in a his third and fourth runs of the game with a two-out double down the right-field line to make the score 12-2.
Washington added an unearned run in the fourth and freshman AJ Graffanino delivered his first college RBI on a double in the fifth to make the score 14-2.
DeMers gave up a pair of runs in the fifth, but by the time he left the game after six complete, the Dawgs were in total control of the game with a 14-4 lead. In just his second collegiate start, Demers (1-0) struck out eight, walked two and gave up eight hits.
Graffanino would add another RBI single in the eight to give him two RBI's on the day, and Kyle London doubled home a run to make the score 16-4. A wild pitch scored Graffanino to give the Huskies their most runs in almost two years.
Alex Hardy threw three scoreless innings to close out the game and earn his first career save.
Six Huskies had at least two hits apiece with Cushing and Naff each recording three.
GAME 1: Washington 16, UC Riverside 4
UW 552 110 030 –- 17 18 1
UCR 020 020 000 –- 4 11 1
LOB: UW 7, UCR 7. Joe DeMers, Alex Hardy (7) and Joey Morgan; Angel Landazuri, Max Compton (3), Devin Mckesson (8), Jason Montville (9) and Casey Worden, Tony Gudino (4). W – DeMers (1-0). L – Landazuri (1-1). Sv – Hardy (1). HR – Chris Baker (1). 3B – UCR, Drake Zarate. 2B – UW, Josh Cushing, Joey Morgan, MJ Hubbs, John Naff, AJ Graffanino, Kyle London, Blake Burton; UCR, Yeager Taylor. Time – 2:55. Attendance – 351.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: DeMers, Joe (1-0)
L: Landazuri, Angel (1-1)
S: Hardy, Alex (1)
Batting:
2B: London, Kyle 1 ; Naff, John 1 ; Cushing, Josh 2 ; Hubbs, MJ 1 ; Burton, Blake 1 ; Morgan, Joey 1 ; Graffanino, AJ 1
HR: Baker, Chris 1
RBI: London, Kyle 1 ; Naff, John 1 ; Cushing, Josh 4 ; Hubbs, MJ 1 ; Matuszak, Gage 1 ; Baker, Chris 3 ; Morgan, Joey 2 ; Graffanino, AJ 2
Base Running:
RUNS: London, Kyle 2 ; Meggs, Jack 2 ; Naff, John 4 ; Cushing, Josh 2 ; Hubbs, MJ 1 ; Burton, Blake 1 ; Matuszak, Gage 1 ; Baker, Chris 2 ; Hendrickson, Duncan 1 ; Graffanino, AJ 1
SB: Meggs, Jack 1
HBP: Naff, John 1
Batting:
2B: Taylor, Yeager 2
3B: Zarate, Drake 1
RBI: Zarate, Drake 1 ; Sporrer, Cody 1 ; Contreras, Mark 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Zarate, Drake 1 ; Cisneros, Aaron 1 ; Taylor, Yeager 1 ; Schultz, Colby 1
