Cheers, hugs, and high fives were in full effect at the SF State Gators Alumni Baseball Game held on Saturday Nov. 2nd. The light-hearted practice game between the Gators baseball alumni and the current 2019 Gators baseball team acted more as a homecoming type of game than any real cutthroat on-field position battling. This is when the joy of baseball is really at its finest, and this year’s Gators team showed off why their bats were just fine coming off the Summer and Fall layoff with a final score of 18-1 at Maloney Park.
Gators starting pitcher Ryan Nabas got off to a strong inning for the Gators against the alumni, putting them down in succession in the 1st inning. When the Gators came up to bat, the team rallied with 1 out via the walk tailed by a hard-batted ball by Justin Cooney-Sylk put two runners on but the threat was irrevocably nullified by the Alumni squad from any further Gators runners advancing. The alumni successfully induced a foul out, and subsequently followed in order by a strikeout swinging to end the inning. The Gators team started off hot out of the gate and never relinquished that momentum throughout the bout. The next few innings the Gators managed to play some scrappy baseball with base hit line-drives, infield singles, and stolen bases in abundance.
The Gators had a key base hit to right-field by Kevin Page followed by an E-4 on a routine, Tailor made double play to put two more Gator runners on base. The Gators eventually socked one deep into the outfield on a double off the wall that was misplayed by the Alumni right-fielder to score one run. The Gators scored their second run in the bottom of the 5th inning on a wild pitch in the dirt that wound up all the way back to the backstop. The Gators then scored their third run off a bullet shot up the middle by Riley Cleary followed by a frozen rope hit that whizzed right by the Alumni pitchers head.
In the later innings Trevor Rogers knocked in another RBI for the Gators on a throwing error from the Alumni shortstop that was followed by a bases loaded walk and then a wild pitch.
In the 9th Kayleb Becerra hits a rocket double to the right-field power alley. The next batter then fouled off some tough pitches to eventually hit a seed into the right-center field gap. A seeing-eye single and a tomahawk smash by some Gator newcomers made it an 18-1 affair in the bottom half of the 9th.
