BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – Junior Adam Conley struck out a career-high nine in eight innings and Washington State defeated Cal State Bakersfield 4-2 in nonconference baseball Friday.
In the season opener for both schools, the Cougar southpaw carried a no-hitter into the sixth, and did not walk a batter in equaling the longest outing of his career. Sophomore Richie Ochoa pitched a 1-2-3 ninth, including a pair of strikeouts, for his first-collegiate save.
"Adam was a bulldog," Cougar Head Coach Donnie Marbut said. "We could have sent him out for the ninth, but we wanted to get Richie into a situation where he could close a game."
Conley and Cal State Bakersfield's Tommy Hoenshell matched zeros for the first-three frames. In the fourth, redshirt-sophomore Taylor Ard doubled with two outs and scored on a single by senior Matt Argyropoulos to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead.
Kevin Younger recorded the Roadrunners' first hit with a single to open the sixth. He moved to second on a single by Jeremy Rodriguez and both runners scored on a two-out double by Oscar Sanay to give Cal State Bakersfield a 2-1 lead.
The Cougars had an immediate response in the seventh. With one out, Argyropoulos doubled and scored on a triple by freshman Jason Monda to tie the game 2-2. Junior Tommy Richards's ground out plated Monda and put Washington State back on top.
In the ninth, Monda was hit by a pitch with two outs, stole second, moved to third on a fielding error, and scored on a passed ball.
The teams will play the middle game of the three-game set, Saturday at 1 p.m.
