A career outing for SF State pitcher Jeff Henning propelled the Gators over visiting Oregon Tech 2-1 in the second game of a double header Sunday.

Henning, a senior, had a career-high nine strikeouts, one walk and surrendered only one run in six innings pitched.

"I felt really good," he said. "I made sure to keep the ball down and use my slider as my out pitch."

SF State baseball head coach Tony Dress was impressed by his pitcher's dominating outing and made note of Henning's ability to keep the ball down in the zone after giving up his only run of the game in the top of the first.

"He made sure to keep the ball down and pitched a great game," Dress said.

Gator Henning and the Hustlin' Owls' pitcher Chris Thomas were deadlocked in a pitching duel until the bottom of the sixth inning when SF State's third baseman Ricky Del Zompo singled to left field, scoring right fielder Jake Moore from third base, breaking the 1-1 tie.

"I just made sure to make contact with the ball," Del Zompo said. "I wanted to step in the box with confidence and get the job done."

The Gators made some key defensive plays late in the game to keep the game tied, highlighted by a diving catch by left fielder Bobby Carini to keep Oregon Tech from scoring in the fifth inning.

"We played great out there. The dive was key for us [in getting the win]," Henning said.

Second baseman Sean Proni led the Gators in hitting by going 3 for 3 in the game, while pitcher Lorenzo Ubungen recorded his first save of the season by shutting out Oregon Tech in the seventh.

Oregon State took the lead early in the first inning when infielder Dylan Hansen RBI singled to left field, scoring fellow infielder Ryson Mauricio. SF State's first baseman Jeff McCall tied the game by hitting a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the first.

The Gators took the weekend series from the owls, going 3-1 over the weekend. The team took both games of Saturday's doubleheader 12-8 and 4-3, respectively. The Gators fell to the Hustlin' Owls in the first game of Sunday's doubleheader 4-2.

SF State is off to a 4-1 start, a considerable improvement from last season's 1-4 start, where the Gators ended up with a 8-46-1 record for the 2008 season.