University of Washington
Missouri State
Dawgs Open 2011 Season With 6-3 Win Over Missouri State
February 18, 2011 | Baseball
Feb. 18, 2011
SAN MARCOS, Texas - Sophomore first baseman Brian Wolfe's two-out, two-run double in the fifth proved the winning hit and freshman reliever Jeff Brigham picked up a victory in his first college appearance as the Washington baseball team opened the 2011 season with a 6-3 win over Missouri State Friday at the Texas State Tournament.
Brigham, a true freshman from Thomas Jefferson High School in Federal Way, came on with two outs in the fourth and the Huskies trailing 1-0. He worked two and one-third shutout innings, allowing two hits. Senior Geoff Brown came on with the bases loaded to get the final out in the ninth, picking up a save.
Bears starter Grant Gordon (0-1) worked six innings, allowing three runs on five hits for Missouri State (0-2), which had also lost earlier in the day to Air Force.
Neither team managed to push a run across until the top of the fourth when the Bears got singles from Brock Chaffin and Keenen Maddox to open inning. Husky starter Jacob Clem seemed ready to wiggle off the hook, getting two flyouts, but a two-out error allowed Chaffin to score, staking Missouri State to a 1-0 lead. That lead remained in place when Maddox was thrown out at the plate, trying to score on a would-be wild pitch, to end the inning.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Huskies also took advantage of an error to draw even. Freshman DH Ryan Wiggins led off with a single. After taking second on a wild pitch, he scored when a throw on a bunt single from Caleb Brown was off target, bring Wiggins home to knot the score at 1-1.
After freshman second baseman Cody Stephens singled and stole second, Wolfe belted a double to center field, scoring Brown and Stephens to put the Huskies on top, 3-1.
The Bears got a run back in the seventh as Travis McCormack tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly. But Washington stretched the lead back to two in the bottom of the same inning when B.K. Santy scored on a two-out single from freshman Spencer Rogers.
In the eighth, Washington got some insurance as sophomore shortstop Jacob Lamb launched a two-run homer to right-center, stretching the lead to 6-2. Missouri State rallied for one in the top of the ninth, and actually brought the go-ahead run to the plate with two outs, but Brown got a foul pop to end the game.
Clem allowed just one unearned run in his three and two-third innings as the Husky starter. Freshman Tyler Kane, from Mill Creek, pitched the seventh and eighth innings, giving up one run.
Rogers finished the day 1-for-2 with an RBI and a pair of walks while classmate Wiggins was 2-for-4.
The Huskies face Nebraska Saturday at 5:00 p.m. PT. Fans can catch live stats and listen to Nebraska's radio broadcast (free) via links from gohuskies.com.
LINESCORE Texas State Tournament Washington 6, Missouri State 3 Missouri St. 000 100 101 -- 3 13 1 Washington 000 030 12x -- 6 8 2 Grant Gordon, Seth Swafford (7) and Luke Voit. Jacob Clem, Jeff Brigham (4), Tyler Kane (7), Adam Cimber (9), Geoff Brown (9) and B.K. Santy. W - Brigham (1-0). L - Gordon (0-1). Sv - Brown (1). 2B - MSU, Brock Chaffin; UW, Brian Wolfe. 3B - MSU, Travis McCormack. HR - UW, Jacob Lamb (1). Records: MSU 0-2; UW 1-0.
