Jacks blanked by Washington State

Friday, March 20

Pullman, Wash.

5:30 p.m. PT

South Dakota State University

Washington State

Baseball faces challenging schedule in 2009

3/20/2009 1:00:00 AM | Baseball

By: SDSU Sports Info

PULLMAN, Wash. -- Washington State left-hander Matt Way struck out 10 and limited South Dakota State to three hits over seven innings to lead the Cougars to a 12-0 shutout in the series opener Friday.

WSU improved to 6-11 on the season, while SDSU droppedto 4-12. Friday's game marked the Jackrabbits' first against a Pac-10 opponent since moving to Division I at the start of the 2005 season.

The Cougars took an early lead with two runs in the bottom of the first inning.Patrick Claussen led off the game with a base hit and scored on John Desmaris' triple down the right field line. Desmaris later scored on a groundout.

After adding a run in the second inning, Washington State broke the game open with three runs in the fourth inning and five more in the fifth inning. Shea Vucinich delivered the big blow in the fifth inning with a two-run home run.

WSU out-hit the Jackrabbits, 15-4, with Claussen leading the way with a 3-for-4 effort at the plate with three runs scored. All four SDSU hits were singlea.

Freshman Layne Somsen took the loss for the Jackrabbits after allowing six runs -- four earned -- in four innings. He struck out two and walked four.

The two teams are scheduled to play the middle game of their three-game series Saturday afternoon.

Score by Innings R H E
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South Dakota State.. 000 000 000 - 0 4 3
Washington State.... 210 350 10X - 12 15 3
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SDSU: Layne Somsen, Blaine Alberta (5), Matt Spinar (6), Isaac Johnson (7) and Tony Martin. WSU: Matt Way, James Wise (8), Adam Conley (9) and Greg Lagreid, J Ponciano (8).
W-Way (2-2). L-Somsen (0-5).
HR: WSU-Shea Vucinich (3).