Five-Run Fourth Lifts Huskies To 7-2 Win Over Cougars

Friday, May 3

Pullman, WA

7:00 PM

University of Washington

22-18, 8-11

Washington State

8-32, 1-17-1

Washington

Washington State

Mason Cerrillo had two hits and 2 RBI against his former team.

May 03, 2019 | Baseball

Box Score

By: Brian Tom

PULLMAN, Wash. – The Huskies scored five times in the fourth inning to break open a close game in a 7-2 win over Washington State on opening night of the Boeing Apple Cup Series of baseball.

It wasn't just the offense that Washington (22-18, 8-11 Pac-12) had rolling on Friday night at Bailey Brayton Field in Pullman. The defense turned a season-high four double plays and the Huskies got another stellar effort from their bullpen to win for the fifth time in six games and seventh out of 10.

The Cougars (8-32, 1-17-1) are winless over their last eight games.

The Huskies wasted little time to jump ahead of their cross-state rivals, scoring a pair of unearned runs in the first. After Nick Kahle reached on an error, first baseman Joe Wainhouse smashed a double off the top of the wall in right-center field that scored Kahle. Mason Cerrillo, who began his college career at WSU, made the score 2-0 with a sacrifice fly.

The Cougars responded in the second with a pair of runs to tie things back up, 2-2. David Rhodes issued a walk and then allowed three-straight singles to the Cougars' bottom half of the order. It turned out to be the only runs on the night for the home team and in the fifth, the Husky hitters put together an impressive hitting clinic to break the game open. They batted around and displayed great discipline at the plate, hitting well with two strikes and going the other way several times.

"We had some good at bats using the back side of the field," said 10^th-year head coach Lindsay Meggs. "It really helps when you get a couple in the first and Joe really got that started for us."

Kahle broke the 2-2 tie by serving a single into right-center field for his team leading 40^th and 41^st RBIs on the season. Ramon Bramasco had an eight-pitch at bat before singling home Kahle to increase the lead to three runs. Cerrillo followed with a single the other way to make it a four-run game and Colton Cassinelli made it a 7-2 game with a RBI groundout.

That would be the end of the scoring for the Huskies' offense on the evening. They would only get one more hit over the final five innings to end the night with 12 total.

But like so many times this season, the UW bullpen came into the game and completely shut down the opponent. Rhodes lasted only 3 1/3 innings, turning the game over to the trio of Chris Micheles, Jack Enger and Stevie Emanuels.

Micheles (5-2) allowed one hit in 2 2/3 innings to pick up his team-leading fifth win of the season. Enger went two scoreless innings and Emanuels mopped up the game with a scoreless ninth.

Bramasco was 3 for 5 with an RBI to pace the UW offense, while Braiden Ward, Wainhouse and Cerrillo each had two hits.

The Huskies and Cougars resume the series on Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 3:00 p.m. PT. The game will be televised on Pac-12 Washington.