Cougars Use Big Third Inning To Beat Huskies, Win Series

Saturday, May 14

Seattle, WA

4:00 PM

University of Washington

27-18, 0

Washington State

17-28, 0

Washington State

Washington

Photo by: Washington Athletics

Cougars Use Big Third Inning To Beat Huskies, Win Series

May 15, 2016 | Baseball

Box Score

By: Washington Athletics

SEATTLE – For the second consecutive day, Washington State used a big inning to change the tides of a game and beat No. 14 Washington, 7-2, Saturday at Husky Ballpark. The Cougars clinched the weekend series after winning game one, 9-3, on Friday.

Washington State (17-28, 10-16 Pac-12) scored five times in the third inning to erase an early 1-0 lead by the Huskies (27-18, 13-10) and pitcher Ian Hamilton cruised once his team gave him the lead.

The Huskies entered the weekend tied for first place in the Pac-12 and 11-1-1 in series' this year, while the Cougars were on the bottom of the conference standings. But, Washington State has used solid pitching and hitting to turn the tables this weekend.

Like Friday, the Huskies jumped ahead of the Cougars early. They executed small ball to grab the 1-0 lead in the first. KJ Brady was hit by a pitch to lead off the first to reach for the 21^st time in 23 starts. Jack Meggs – the national leader in sacrifice bunts – collected his 18^th of the year and pushed Brady down to second. Chris Baker made the strategy pay off with a single to left that scored Brady and gave the Huskies the quick advantage.

The lead was short lived as Washington State batted around in the third, scoring five times on six hits off of UW freshman starter Joe DeMers (3-4). The Cougars played station-to-station ball, stringing four-consecutive hits together to take a 3-1 lead.

When Weston Hatten doubled for the fifth hit of the inning, Spencer Jones was called in from the bullpen to try and contain the damage. But J.J. Hancock hammered a single into right field scoring two more runs and giving WSU the 5-1 lead.

Hamilton (2-9) got into a groove once his team gave him the lead. He allowed a runner in each inning from the second through the fifth, but two reached with two outs and the other two were wiped off the board on double plays.

The Huskies finally struck for a run in the sixth to try and start a long climb back into the game. John Naff doubled with two outs and MJ Hubbs scored him on a RBI single to center field.

But Washington State answered by scoring two unearned runs in the seventh to extend its lead to 7-2. With the bases loaded and one out, Hatten hit a ground ball to shortstop that the Huskies tried to turn into a double play, but Levi Jordan's relay to first bounced in the dirt and past Naff at first base allowing two runs to score.

The Cougars turned the game over to Trenton Dupre in the seventh inning and he pitched effectively over the final three innings. He allowed two harmless hits and picked up his second save of the year.

The Huskies were outhit for a second-consecutive night, 9-7. AJ Graffanino was the only UW batter with multiple hits, going 2 for 3 at the plate to extend his career-high hitting streak to seven games.

The Huskies will try to salvage the final game of the series Sunday at 12:00 p.m. The game will air on the Pac-12 Networks.

Washington State 7 (17-28, 10-16), No. 14 Washington 2 (27-18, 13-10)

WSU 005 000 200 –- 7 9 1
UW 100 001 000 –- 2 7 2

LOB: WSU 8, UW 8. Ian Hamilton, Trenton Dupre (7) and Ty Johnson; Joe DeMers, Spencer Jones (3), Alex Nesbitt (7), Will Ballowe (8), Lance Berringer (8) and Joey Morgan. W – Ian Hamilton (2-9). L – Joe DeMers (3-4). SV – Trenton Dupre (2). HR – none. 3B – none. 2B – WSU, Weston Hatten, Shane Matheny; UW, John Naff. Time – 2:54. Attendance – 1345.