SEATTLE -- The Washington Huskies (7-6) picked up their third win in a row on Friday night, outlasting Seattle U (5-7) in 11 innings to clinch a series win as well.
The day after hitting his first career home run,
Dalton Chandler came up clutch again, as he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 11th inning to walk it off for UW and give the team a 4-3 victory.
The Huskies were in for a fight from the very first inning, as the Redhawks came out of the gates strong. After working a walk and getting two singles off of
Jack Enger, they jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning.
Braiden Ward had a quick answer for that run, as he rocketed his first home run of the year down the right field line to lead off the bottom half of the first.
Enger did not give up another run after the first, but had to battle through the rest of the night to get through four innings of one-run ball. He used six strikeouts to help work around baserunners and keep Seattle U off the board after the first.
Ward was once again in the middle of the action in the bottom of the third, as he started a two-out rally with a single into right field. He quickly stole second and scored easily on a
Ramon Bramasco double to give the Huskies a 2-1 lead.
UW extended its lead once more in the seventh.
Will Simpson,
Michael Brown and
Dalton Chandler all singled to load the bases to start the inning.
Christian Jones then hit a rocket into left field that hung up just enough to be caught, but was deep enough to score Simpson from third for a sac fly.
The Redhawks didn't go away easily, as they rallied to tie the game in the top of the eighth. The added their first run on a throwing error that scored a runner from second. With the bases loaded and one out,
Braiden Ward made a great running catch deep in the left-center field gap to prevent a bases-clearing hit. It was, however, deep enough to bring home the runner on third and tie the game at three.
While the Huskies couldn't find a run in the initial nine innings, stellar relief pitching from
Gabe Smith and
Dylan Lamb helped extend the game. The two combined the throw 2.2 scoreless innings from the ninth through the 11th, giving up just one hit and striking out three.
in the bottom of the 11th,
Noah Hsue ripped a single into left-center to start a rally and cause Seattle U to make a pitching change.
Will Simpson and
Cole Miller each walked to load the bases for
Dalton Chandler.
On a 3-0 count, Chandler was hit by a pitch to score Hsue from third and walk off the game for the Huskies.
Washington will go for the three-game sweep against Seattle U on Saturday afternoon, with first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m. at Husky Ballpark.
Husky Notes
- With his home run in the first inning, Braiden Ward extended his on-base streak to all 13 games this season. He has also scored a first inning run in six of the last 10 UW games.
- Ward stole his 11th base of the season, which leads the Pac-12.
- The Washington pitching staff now has an ERA of 2.13, which only trails Oregon State in the Pac-12 (2.08 in 6.1 fewer innings).
- The bullpen trio of Stu Flesland III, Davis Delorefice and Stefan Raeth has now combined to throw 23.2 innings without an earned run this season.
