second.
Grudzielanek drew attention away by leading off third towards home,
and when Cora made a safe break for first, the Padres quickly whipped
the ball to third and got Grudzielanek for the third out to end
the inning.
Eaton pitched seven shutout innings giving up three hits, one walk,
and striking out eight Dodgers before being replaced.
Daal gave the Dodgers eight innings with out giving up a run. He
stuck out six Padres and only allowed two hits before being relieved
by ace closer Eric Gagne in the ninth.
The game remained scoreless through nine innings as Gagne and an
assortment of Padre relievers kept any runs from being scored.
In the bottom of the tenth the Padres sent reliever Jeremy Fikac
to the mound to face Dodger catcher Paul Lo Duca.
Lo Duca smashed Fikac’s first pitch into the left field pavilion
seats. The walk-off homer sent the crowd into a joyous celebration.
The win kept the Dodgers in the playoff hunt for the wild card
for time being. However on Saturday the San Francisco Giants defeated
the Houston Astros to eliminate the Dodgers from the playoffs.
The SMC crowd was lively throughout the game. Shouting out chants
of “S-M-C” and various names of those attending. “Just
having a chance to be out here with everybody, it’s fun, you
can just here the energy. Next time it’d be great to get more
seats,” said Eric Yoshida.
“There are a lot of people out there at school, that they
don’t know anybody and they don’t know ways to meet
people and coming to AS events is a great way to meet people, and
make friends,” he said.
Many faculty attended the event as well as students. “I wish
there were more staff and faculty here because it’s just great
to be with students and for students to see us in a different light
and for us to kind of jell with the students,” said Brenda
Simmons, the Dean of Enrollment Services. “It’s a less
formal atmosphere and it’s just fun. Nobody has on any hats
and we’ve taken off our titles and are just really having
fun.”
With the success of the first Dodger night the AS is looking foward
to do it again in the spring. |
