Sacramento, Calif. - Junior Brian Conradi hit a three-run homer over the left field wall in the 13th inning against Hawai’i on Tuesday night, helping the Hornets to an 8-5 victory at Les Murakami Stadium in the First Hawai’i Title Rainbow Baseball Tournament.Sacramento State improves to 6-6-1 on the season, while the Rainbow Warriors fall to 7-6. The game which started at 10 p.m. PST, (7 p.m. in Hawaii) lasted four hours and 19 minutes. It was the third game of the season where the Hornets have gone into extra innings.
Conradi, a transfer from Taft JC, registered three hits and three runs in the game including scoring freshman David Flores and junior Jim Strombach on the home run, who had both reached base earlier in the 13th inning. Strombach, who had three hits and scored two runs during the game, currently leads the Hornets with five-game hitting streak. Flores, a freshman out of Union City, Calif., is on a four-game hitting streak and is batting .300 from the plate.
Senior Marshall Plouffe picked up his second win of the season, pitching the final five innings of the game, without giving up a run and allowing only three hits. Plouffe, who is returning from Tommy John surgery, has pitched 14.2 innings and has an ERA of 1.23.
After six innings of play, Hawai’i held an 5-1 advantage before Sacramento State produced three runs in the seventh inning. A double to right center field from junior Josh Levin scored Conradi and Strombach for the first two runs of the inning. Levin then scored when senior Brett Flowers singled to center field. Levin, a San Jose, Calif., native finished the game with two doubles and two RBIs. He now leads the team with seven doubles on the year. Flowers also had a good day at the plate registering two hits and two RBIs.
In the ninth innning, another single from Flowers scored Conradi to even the game at 5-5. The Hornets scored their first run of the game in the second inning when Flores singled to right field and scored junior Brian Blauser.
In the 12th inning Hawai’i loaded the bases with no outs, but Plouffe responded by striking out the next two batters of the inning before Flores and junior Everet Rincon combined to throw out the runner at second base.
Sacramento State next plays Wichita State in the tournament at 5:30 p.m. PST on Wednesday.
