FRESNO, Calif. – The Sunbirds baseball team opened up its 2022 season against Western Oregon on Thursday night, falling short to the Wolves 13-5.

QUOTABLE

"That's obviously not the way we wanted to start the series. However, we know the adjustments we need to make. There's a lot of series left." – head coach Oscar Hirschkorn

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Garrett Cooper got off to a good start on the mound, matching his counterpart with four scoreless innings.
• Western Oregon broke the stalemate in the fifth inning with four runs, one of them being unearned.
• After a scoreless fifth frame, the Sunbirds bounced back in the fifth. Matt McGrady started the inning off with a one-out walk, and he was brought in to score by Cole Yoshida on a double to right field. 
• With runners on second and third, Khalid Johnson hit a single to left field, scoring Nolan Brown from third. Tommy Rover grounded out to second, but that didn't stop Yoshida from scoring to make it a 4-3 game. With two outs Andrew Valdez brought in Johnson to tie the game.
• After a scoreless seventh frame, Western Oregon was able to score five runs in the top of the eighth inning to take a 9-4 lead.
• FPU got one back when Donte Valdez brought in Rover, but four runs from the Wolves in the top of the ninth put the game out of reach.

STATS FROM THE GAME

• Andrew Valdez had an efficient night at the plate, going 2-for-3 with an RBI and two walks
• Yoshida had a two-hit night while scoring a run and bringing one in.
• Johnson, Rover, McGrady and Brown each scored runs in the contest.

UP NEXT

The Blue and Orange will face off against Western Oregon in a double-header on Friday at FPU Diamond. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 2 p.m.

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