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FULLERTON, Calif. — Levi Jordan was 3 for 4 with two RBI to extend his hitting streak to eight games, and the University of Washington baseball team beat Cal State Fullerton 8-5 on Friday in the Huskies’ first NCAA Tournament super regional contest.
Washington scored two runs in the fifth inning — including Jordan’s sacrifice fly — for Fullerton’s only deficit this postseason. Freshman Kaiser Weiss hit a two-run double in the ninth after entering as a defensive replacement.
“Isn’t that always the way it is?” Huskies coach Lindsay Meggs said. “You put somebody in like that for defense and he comes up at a huge moment in the course of a game, gets down 0-2 and takes a great at bat. He just grinds, takes a couple of pitches and gets back in the count.
“I told our guys that’s kind of how our season has gone. We started off the season 0-2, and we fought our way back to put ourselves in position that a lot of teams want to be. I’m really proud of our kids.”
Washington (34-23) came in 0-8 against Fullerton.
Washington freshman starter Lucas Knowles struck out three while allowing five hits and one earned run.
“It was a great atmosphere, so (Knowles) might have had some nerves going,” Washington catcher Nick Kahle said. “Once he settled down, he put up three zeros in a row, so that was big.”
UW closer Alex Hardy entered in the seventh, and slated Game 2 starter Joe DeMers pitched the ninth.
Fullerton (35-24) was undone by five errors.
Sahid Valenzuela hit a two-out RBI triple in the seventh and scored on Jace Chamberlin’s single to pull Fullerton to 6-5. Fullerton left the bases loaded in the eighth.
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