Box Score

SAN FRANCISCO - Fresno Pacific picked up a victory in its inaugural NCAA Division II game on Friday, defeating San Francisco State 7-2 behind quality pitching and timely hitting.

J.D. Salles went seven strong innings in his Sunbird debut, giving up just two runs and striking out five to earn the win. Ryan Cheek entered the game in the eighth with the score 3-2 and tossed two scoreless innings to earn the save.

Devin Lee went 3-for-5 out of the leadoff spot for the Sunbirds and Steven Moon provided a clutch go-ahead RBI single in the eighth before FPU proceeded to pour it on with four runs in the ninth. Kaohu Gaspar finished 1-for-2 with two runs scored.

With every player in the starting lineup making their FPU debut, seven players picked up their first Sunbird hit in the victory.

"San Francisco State is a good team and really well coached," said head coach Oscar Hirschkorn. "So we knew it was going to be a battle and it would come down to who could beat the first game adrenaline rush first. By the end of the game we'd done a good job of settling down, staying disciplined and playing our game."

The Sunbirds trailed for the first five innings, but tied it up 2-2 on an RBI single by freshman Joseph Garabedian. Moon would give the Sunbirds the lead two innings later with a two-out RBI single that scored Gaspar.

Salles, in his FPU debut after transferring from Fresno State, settled down after some early trouble and was in top-form by his last two innings.

"JD was phenomenal today," said Hirschkorn. "He just attacked the plate. He mixed speeds really well and when he's throwing his secondary pitches the way he did today he's very tough to beat. He also made a huge defensive play on a bunt early in the game that ended up being crucial."

The team extended the lead in the ninth inning after loading the bases with no outs. Brett Bishop came through with what was initially ruled a two-RBI single but later ruled an error on the third baseman. SFSU totaled four errors in the loss. The Sunbirds would get four runs across in the inning after an Alan Sandoval pinch-hit walk and another Gator error.

The Gators (0-1) used seven pitchers in the game, with reliever Jack Joregensen picking up the loss. Carter Loud and Grady Espinosa finished with two hits apiece for SFSU.

The two teams match up again tomorrow for a doubleheader beginning at 11 am.

"The game one win is nice but our mission is obviously to win the series," said Hirschkorn. "We've got a lot of work to do tomorrow."