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Box Score 2 Stockton, Calif. – The Pacific Tigers won game one of their doubleheader against San Diego 4-3 in dramatic fashion thanks to a bases-loaded walkoff hit by Danny Mayer in the bottom of the ninth. Pacific moved ahead of San Diego in the WCC standings with the win that put them at 11-1 in conference this year.
In the first game of the doubleheader, Will Lydon was on the mound, searching for his fourth win in his last five starts. Lydon has been a workhorse all year for Pacific, ranking fourth in the WCC in innings with 79.1 entering today and adding seven more to that total. He would end up with the loss despite giving up just two earned runs and three total runs in his seven innings while striking out five. Jordon Gonzalez took over for Lydon in the eighth.
Vince Arobio got the win, the second of the year for the junior, with a scoreless inning of work that included two strikeouts and no hits allowed.
Gary Cornish proved troublesome for the Tigers in his 17th start. The Torero senior retired 14 of the first 15 men he faced in the game. After J.J. Wagner's single in the first, Cornish retired 13 in a row. Cornish left the game with the lead after seven innings of work but took a no-decision. C.J. Burdick took his first loss of the year after leaving with two runners on in the ninth. Nathan Kuchta came on and allowed the walkoff hit after loading the bases with a walk.
Two bad-luck singles for the Toreros put Lydon in hot water as soon as the game began. The leadoff man chopped a ball over Lydon's head and beat out a single on a bang-bang play with Kevin Sandri's throw on the run coming just barely late. Sandri then shaded toward the second base bag against the next batter, who put it through the hole on the left side just out of Sandri's grasp.
Lydon struck out the three-hole hitter and nearly got the cleanup man, only to have San Diego's Riley Adams hit a line drive over Nate Verlin's head for a double that was inches above Verlin's reach. The RBI double proceeded a four-pitch walk, loading the bases with one out in the 1-0 game.
A timely mound visit worked to perfection for the Tigers. After the conference, Lydon's very next pitch started a 5-4-3 double play around the horn. Wagner, playing in his 187th career game, 14th-most in Pacific history, hopped to grab the ball and relayed it to Louis Mejia quickly for the easy start to the double play.
Wagner had the Tigers first hit of the game as well when he singled into leftfield with a lazy line drive. Pacific couldn't manage anything else in the first though and had to settle for a scoreless frame.
Two errors in the top of the second put the first two batters aboard. After a sacrifice bunt, San Diego scored their second run of the day with a groundout. Verlin charged the ball but saw that he wouldn't have a play at home if he threw there and retreated to first to get the out.
Mejia fielded the first out of the third with a wonderful stab. The senior ranged toward second and stopped his momentum with a hard step as he grabbed the ball off-balance, throwing to first for the out. Wagner tried to one-up Mejia's play with a diving reaction play on the next grounder that got Pacific the second out in Lydon's first scoreless frame of the day.
Lucas Halstead became Pacific's second baserunner of the day in the fifth inning. Halstead fell behind 0-2 but watched four straight for a free pass. On a hit-and-run, Mejia singled to move Halstead to third with one out. Mejia grounded the ball into rightfield through the feet of Halstead as Pacific's offense came alive.
The Tigers scored, making it 2-1 when McKay Koissian grounded out. Koissian chopped the ball high to the right of the first baseman. The only play was to first with the pitcher covering, letting Halstead score and moving Mejia to second. It was Koissian's fifth RBI of the season, matching his career total entering this year.
Lydon had a streak of seven in a row retired before San Diego put a man on on a dropped flyball in the sixth, Lydon's fourth consecutive scoreless inning. The error was the only baserunner Lydon allowed during his stretch of eight of nine men retired after he gave up two singles in the fourth.
Mayer came through and tied the score with his 14th homerun of the year in the sixth. Despite the wind pushing the ball back in, Mayer launched a flyball into the visiting bullpen with two outs to make it 2-2. Mayer now has the fourth-most homers in a single season in Pacific history, just behind Matt Berezay and Vic Sanchez, who each hit 15 in a season. It was the junior's 30th extra-base hit of the year as well, the most since Kurt Wideman's 31 in 2009.
The Tigers managed an infield single by Gio Brusa and a bloop double by Verlin to center after Mayer's blast but couldn't take the lead as Halstead's line drive was caught on a running leap by the second baseman. The double by Verlin made it hits in 15 of 16 games and 13 consecutive home games.
In the brand-new ballgame, the Toreros threatened again with a double to left-center to start the seventh inning. San Diego singled after that and took second on the throw as Brusa's throw kept the runner from scoring even if it gave the visitor's men on second and third with no outs.
Lydon struck out the next batter swinging on four pitches for a very important first out of the inning. The junior got the next batter into a 1-2 count but San Diego got a flyball deep enough to score the run and take the lead again. Another strikeout from Lydon ended the inning and kept the deficit decidedly manageable for Pacific.
For the fifth start in a row, Koissian recorded a hit when he singled up the middle on the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the seventh. In his last five starts, Koissian is hitting .381. Pacific was unable to add anything else in the seventh though.
Gonzalez got the first two men he faced out but was relieved after he gave up a two-out double and walked the next batter on four pitches. Bryce Lombardi was brought on in the high-leverage situation and did his job, getting a flyout to end the inning and strand two runners.
For the first time in the game, the Tigers got the leadoff man on thanks to Wagner's single to center to start the eighth. San Diego's Burdick, who had relieved Cornish to start the inning, struck out the next two batters to put a damper on Pacific's comeback. Verlin drew a full-count walk to keep the inning alive and bring up Halstead.
For the eighth game in a row, Halstead drove in a run, this time tying the game with a hard-hit single to center that brought Wagner home from second to make it 3-3. Over that eight-game stretch, Halstead has hit .379 with five doubles and three homers. He also has 16 RBI in his last 15 starts.
Arobio walked the second batter of the ninth after an easy first out. The Torero pinch-runner stole second to threaten. A second walk upped the pressure on the Tigers with still just one out. San Diego's double steal put two men into scoring position and erased the possibility of the double play.
Pacific walked the next batter to set up the force at any base needing two outs to end the inning. Arobio earned a swinging strikeout with a filthy pitch to lessen the pressure, making it two down. Now with some confidence, Arobio got another strikeout to end the inning and leave the bases loaded with the game still tied.
J.P. Yakel put the winning run on first with a flaired single to center. Sandri also reached base with his team-leading ninth HBP, putting pinch-runner Jimmy Boras in scoring position. Wagner drew a walk to load the bases up with just the one out as Pacific's most powerful bats came to the plate.
It was Mayer that walked off with the win when he launched a ball into rightfield, well away from any fielder. The single scored the winning run easily and would have cleared the bases easily if Pacific had needed more.
Pacific' series with San Diego concludes Sunday at 1:00 pm with Pacific's senior day. Tickets for all home games are available online.
Make sure to follow Pacific baseball on Twitter with the username @PacificBaseball and on Instagram at pacificbaseball.
