Huskies Finish Two-Day Home Opener, Win 10-3
SEATTLE – Their home opener may have spanned two days, but the wait was worth it for the Husky Baseball team as they beat UT Rio Grande Valley, 10-3, for their first win of 2021.
A rare winter lightning storm shook Husky Ballpark Friday night, stopping UW's home opener in its tracks. The game was picked up Saturday afternoon with the Huskies leading 6-3 in the top of the fifth inning and two outs.
The storm came right as UTRGV was mounting a comeback, and when play resumed the Huskies were able to stop the flood gates and add on four runs complete the win.
Washington's offense pounded out 12 hits and took advantage of six UTRGV errors to reach double-figure runs for the first time in 2021.
Centerfielder Braiden Ward led the offensive onslaught with three hits (3 for 5), two stolen bases and a run batted in. Noah Hsue, Michael Brown and Ramon Bramasco each chipped in with two hits.
Stefan Raeth (1-0) took over on the mound when play resumed on Saturday and did not allow a run over 3 1/3 innings to pick up his first Division I win. He struck out two and allowed three hits.
The Husky offense jumped on UTRGV starter Christian Ramos (0-1) right out of the gate in the first inning, using a familiar formula. Ward led off with a single, and the three-time Pac-12 stolen bases leader swiped the 58th base of his career to get into scoring position. No. 2 hitter Hsue promptly sent him home on a single. Hsue later scored on a single by Brown to start the offensive onslaught for the Dawgs in their home debut.
In the second, Ward drove in Bramasco with a two-out RBI single to make it 3-0.
The way Husky starter Tyson Guerrero was pitching, a 3-0 lead looked like it would be enough. The sophomore JC transfer was cruising along, striking out six and allowing just one hit, before he injured his left leg making a pitch in the third inning. He lasted just 2 2/3 innings, throwing 27 strikes out of 37 total pitches.
The Huskies tacked on three more unearned runs an inning later to make it 6-0. Brown picked up a RBI single and scored on a three-base error when left fielder Spencer Serven misplayed a fly ball off the bat of Dalton Chandler. Chandler would come around to score on a RBI single by Bramasco.
UTRGV got on the board three times in the fifth inning before lightning halted the game at 8:41 p.m. RJ Ochoa drilled a double into the right-center gap, and right as Serven crossed the plate to score the Vaqueros' third run, lightning struck in the background over Lake Washington.
Raeth struck out Coleman Grubb when play resumed at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, ending the Vaqueros' best scoring opportunity.
The Huskies piled on a run in the fifth, seventh and two in the eighth to pull away.