PEORIA, ARIZ. – LIU baseball completed its second and third games against Washington State on Friday, defeating the Cougars 8-3 in game one and falling 8-0 in game two. The win in the first game gives the Sharks their first win against a PAC-12 opponent in team history.
SHARK BITES: LIU 8, WSU 3
- LIU was trailing 3-0 going into the top half of the third, but they chipped away at the lead. Michael Edelman scorched an RBI double to score RJ Latkowski, and Giovani Ciaccio singled to right to score Jack Power to bring the score to 3-2.
- Edelman began the fifth by notching his second RBI of the game on another double, bringing home Power and tying the game at three.
- In the sixth, Latkowski hit an RBI double that scored Luke Turner and Seth Surrett to give LIU its first lead at 5-3. Power hit an RBI double of his own to go back-to-back, adding another run to the board.
- Ciaccio earned his second and third RBIs of the day to score Edelman and Power to push the lead to 8-3, which would hold to give LIU the victory.
- The lead to hold firm after the sixth, thanks to four combined scoreless innings from Kurt Lange and Josh Gainer. Lange came in for relief of Joshua Loeschorn, who started and tossed five innings.
- Lange had an inning of scoreless relief, allowing one hit. Gainer earned the save by throwing three scoreless while striking out one and giving up two hits.
- Loeschorn was given the win, and Elias Farland earned the loss. Gainer was credited his first save of the season.
SHARK BITES: WSU 8, LIU 0
- Washington State scored two runs in the second and third before scoring three in the fourth. They would score one run in the seventh, as well.
- At the dish, EJ Exposito and Ciaccio both went 1-3 with a single apiece.
- Evan Panjwani came in to relieve Jarod Wade, throwing four and a third and striking out three batters, giving up one earned run.
- Jarod Wade was given the loss on the mound, and Cottrell earned the win for the Cougars.
Up next, the Sharks play the last of the four-game series against Washington State on Saturday, February 26 at 3:00 p.m.