TURLOCK – Rafael Vasquez threw a complete game behind an offense led by Eli Davis’ two home runs as the California State University, Stanislaus Warriors dominated the Otters from California State University, Monterey Bay 8-2.
“This weekend was a big series for us,” Davis said. “I think we really turned a corner as a team. To be honest I was really just the beneficiary of my teammates doing a great job of getting on base in front of me; they are the ones who deserve the credit.”
The Warriors continued its dominance over the Otters as they have won 10 straight games against the Otters in Turlock and improved their all-time series record to 25-2.
CSU Stanislaus rocked CSUMB starter Aaron Appino, belting two home runs on three pitches. Eli Davis led off with his fourth home run of the year on the second pitch.
He was followed by Michael Turay’s shot on the first pitch to give the Warriors a 2-0 lead with no outs. Jordan Long went 2-for-4 with a run scored and Justin Manci was 1-for-4 for the game.
“Our offense has so many people contributing and that’s what makes our hitting good,” Manci said.
After another single in the second inning, Davis came up in the third with the bases loaded and just one out.
The senior from Turlock blasted another offering over the left field wall for a grand slam to put the Warriors up 7-0 by this point.
Rafael Vasquez went nine strong innings, allowing only two runs on seven hits, three walks and eight strikeouts, and is now 3-1 as a starter.
“I felt great coming into the game and the only thing I was focused on was getting the win whatever way possible,” Vasquez said. “That first inning was huge though, after Mike [Turay] and Eli Davis gave me the lead on back-to-back homers, I knew at that point this was our game and our series. From there on I didn’t look back, I just wanted to win that game not only for myself but mostly those guys around me.”