Matthews and McKeon Lead Cougars Past UC Riverside

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (Wash. (May 11, 2022) – Bryce Matthews drove in four runs and Jacob McKeon homered as Washington State notched its sixth straight victory with a 10-3 win over UC Riverside Wednesday evening.
 
WSU improved to 23-23 overall after scoring three runs in the fifth and sixth in the sixth inning to erase a 2-1 deficit. Matthews recorded two hits and scored twice, Jack Smith collected two hits and McKeon hit his sixth homer of the season.
 
Six Cougar pitchers worked with Chase Grillo earning the win the 1.1 scoreless inning while Caden Kaelber struck out four in 2.1 scoreless innings.
 
 
KEY MOMENTS OF THE GAME
In the second inning, Smith doubled to centerfield to start the inning and Van De Brake followed with an RBI-single to right field on the first pitch he saw for 1-0 lead.
 
In the third inning, UCR played a pair of runs on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch and a bases-loaded walk for a 2-0 lead.
 
In the fifth inning, Elijah Hainline nearly homered but settled for a one-out double off the wall in left-center and later scored on Matthews' two-out bloop single in centerfield. McKeon followed with a two-run homer down the left field line on the first pitch he saw for a 4-2 Cougar lead.
 
WSU blew things open with a six-run sixth inning with a bases-loaded walk from Kodie Kolden, a three-run double down the right field line by Matthews and a two-run bloop double for Jack Smith down the right field line for a 10-2 WSU lead.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Van De Brake singled in 2nd inning to extend his hitting streak to 13 games and on-base streak to 20 games
Kodie Kolden walked in the 6th inning to extend his on-base streak to 18 games
McKeon homered in the 5th inning to extend his hitting streak to 14 games
 
NEXT UP
WSU continues its five-game road trip with a three-game series at No. 15 UCLA beginning Friday.