SSU wins CCAA tournament opener

In a matchup pitting the top two pitchers in the California Collegiate Athletic Association, Sonoma State's Matt Means outdueled Cal State Stanislaus' Marquis Fleming in the Seawolves' 5-1 victory Thursday in the opening round of the CCAA Tournament at Chico.

Top-seeded Sonoma State (43-12), the defending tournament champion, will meet Chico State, which beat UCSD, 7-4, late Thursday night, at 3 p.m. today, as the Seawolves aim for their fifth consecutive CCAA Tournament win dating back to last year.

Means, a senior left-hander, improved to 8-1 and lowered his ERA to 1.91 after allowing one run and five hits in seven innings. Fleming, a senior right-hander who was named the CCAA Pitcher of the Year on Tuesday, allowed three runs and four hits in five innings.

Fleming went 11-3 with a 2.21 ERA and seven complete games in the regular season. He had pitched seven shutout innings -- striking out 10 and allowing four hits -- in a 3-0 win against SSU on Apr. 27.

But after Fleming held the Seawolves hitless in the first 4« innings Thursday, SSU broke loose with three runs in the fifth.

With one out, the Seawolves strung together singles by David Adler, Dave Herman and Kris Haycock to load the bases.

Ian Bridges then broke the scoreless tie with a sacrifice fly and Konrad Thieme followed with a two-run single.

SSU upped its lead to 5-0 in the seventh on a Stanislaus error and an RBI single from Mark Pestorich.

Adler went 2 for 4 and Herman went 2 for 5 for SSU. Adam Fonville went 3 for 4 for the fourth-seeded Warriors (36-20).

The Seawolves have an all-time CCAA Tournament record of 16-6.