The Sonoma State Baseball team took on the Stanislaus State Warriors for a four-game set this weekend that was pivotal for the Seawolves.  The Seawolves winning the series has put them to 10-14 in conference play and one spot out of the playoffs with a little more than a month left in the season.  

To start the series, Head Coach John Goelz gave the nod to sophomore right handed pitcher Tanner Fonoti to start the game. Fonoti went four innings while striking out two and only gave up one run and two walks. In the fifth inning, Goelz brought in junior Michael Benz in relief of Fonoti. Benz went four scoreless innings with one strikeout and only gave up one run. To close the game in the 9th, senior Josh Medina secured the win and his second save and first of two on the weekend. The Seawolf offense was led by sophomore Christopher Wright as he went 2-3 with two RBIs. 

“The coaches have done a great job managing my pitch counts throughout the year to keep my arm healthy,” said Benz about what are the keys to always being ready to go. “Additionally, a combination of strength training from trainer Anthony Ponzo and conditioning prescribed by coach Dolf Hes have kept my body in great shape. This combined with arm care exercises, nutrition, hydration, stretching, and enough sleep have aided my ability to bounce back.”

 The second game of the series saw the Seawolves go down as Stanislaus state won 3-1. This made the third game of the series a pivotal one as the series was now tied up 1-1. Freshman Jason ‘Doc’ Doktorczyk took the mound for the start and had an excellent showing. Doc went 6 innings while striking out 6 and only giving up one run and one walk. The Seawolf offense was led by seniors, Medina and Josh Lopez. Lopez went 2-3 with one run and Medina went 2-3 with one RBI. To wrap up the game, Medina was once again called to the mound in the seventh and secured the 2-1 win for Sonoma State. 

“I grew up as the youngest of a family of three and they put pressure on me every day to be the best person and ballplayer I can be,” said Medina when asked how he manages to stay composed in high-stake situations. “I give all the credit to them, they prepared me for the moments that mean the most.”

On Sunday morning, junior Nick Roth was given the start by Coach Goelz. Roth went four innings while striking out five and only giving up two runs and one walk. Offensively, the Seawolves had big contributions from Medina who was a triple shy of the cycle, and senior Nick Simmons who hit his first homerun of the year.  In the fifth, sophomore Tanner Ivey came in relief for Roth and he went two scoreless innings with two strikeouts and zero walks. In the seventh, Benz came in and went two scoreless innings as well with three strikeouts and two walks. He would hand the ball to freshman Niko Tejada for the ninth and he sealed the deal and the Seawolves won 8-4 wrapping up the series. 

“I will do whatever the team needs me to do to win. This is potentially my last season ever playing baseball and I want to give it everything I got leaving with no regrets. I want to go out and win for Sonoma State as well as my teammates. I have the best group around me and I’ll do anything for these boys.” Said Medina 

The next home baseball game is on April 22 as the Seawolves will take a road trip this weekend to take on Cal State San Marcos. For more information on the baseball team make sure to head over to, sonomaseawolves.com/sports/baseball