CHUNG’S SECOND WALK-OFF OF THE WEEK EARNS BASEBALL A BID TO WAC TOURNAMENT
5/11/2012
Derrick Chung's walk-off single in the 12th gave the Hornets a 7-6 win over Hawai'i.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. –Derrick Chung notched his second walk-off hit of the week in the 12th inning and the Sacramento State baseball team clinched a spot in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament with a 7-6 win over first-place Hawai’i on Friday afternoon at John Smith Field.
The Hornets (27-23, 9-7 WAC), who last made the WAC Tournament in 2008, sealed their bid with seven runs on 12 hits with two errors. None of those hits was bigger than Chung’s walk-off single to left with two outs in the bottom of the 12th inning that drove in freshman Scotty Burcham from second. Chung also had a walk-off sacrifice fly in the 10th inning on Tuesday in the Hornets’ 2-1 win over Saint Mary’s.
Friday’s win against Hawai’i guaranteed the fourth-place Hornets nine conference wins and the best sixth-place Louisiana Tech can do is match them at nine wins. Sacramento State has the tiebreaker in that scenario, after taking 2-of-3 from the Bulldogs in its first WAC series of the season. Louisiana Tech is still battling Fresno State and San Jose State for the final two spots in the tournament. The double-elimination WAC Tournament runs from May 24-27 at HoHoKam Park in Mesa, Ariz.
The Rainbows (28-19, 8-5 WAC) scored six runs on 10 hits with three errors in the loss. All but one of Hawai’i’s runs were driven in on two home runs by third baseman Collin Bennett, his first two of the season.
Chung 12th inning heroics were set up by the Hornets’ two-run rally in the ninth and a strong outing from sophomore starting pitcher Dallas Chadwick. The sophomore allowed just four runs, none earned, on five hits in seven innings with two walks and a career-high 10 strikeouts.
Hawai’i’s four-run sixth inning tied up the game before the Rainbows scored two more in the top of the ninth on Bennett’s second big fly of the game. The Hornets rallied, however, as freshman Rhys Hoskins singled and sophomore Will Soto reached on a throwing error by the second baseman. With runners at second and third, sophomore David Del Grande laced a single past the first baseman to score both runners and send the game to extra innings.
Senior R.J. Davis and freshman Ty Nichols kept the Rainbows off the scoreboard in extra innings, allowing Chung to come through for the Hornets in the 12th. Nichols (2-3) earned the win after allowing just two hits in the final two innings.
Chung finished with a game-high four hits while Del Grande led the team with two RBIs.
The Hornets and Rainbows meet again at 1 p.m. tomorrow with the final game of the series at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
