SAN MARCOS, Calif. – In a slugfest, the CSUSM baseball team powered its way to a California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) series win with victories of 11-10 and 13-4 over Cal State East Bay on Sunday at CSUSM Baseball Field.
GAME 1: CSUSM 11 – CSUEB 10 (11)
TOP PERFORMERS
Austin Ott – 2-for-5 | 1 HR | 4 RBIs | 1 R | 1 2B | 1 BB
Grant Buck – 4-for-5 | 3 RBIs | 3 R | 1 HR | 1 2B | 1 BB
Joseph Bahna – 3-for-5 | 1 RBI | 1 R | 1 BB
Cabot Van Til – 2-for-6 | 1 3B | 2 R | 1 RBI
HOW IT HAPPENED •After CSUEB’s Kyosuke Ushimaru delivered an RBI single in the top of the first, the Cougars’ Buck hit a solo shot to straight center to tie the game at 1-1.
•Ushimaru then hit a grand slam down the right field line in the third inning to put the Pioneers up 5-1.
•The Cougars gained three runs back thanks to a two-RBI single by Buck to left center and an RBI single by Andrew Garcia to left.
•On the first pitch of his at-bat in the fifth, Ott hit a grand slam to center field to put the Cougars up 8-5.
•After Adam Tanoue put the Cougars up 9-5 with an RBI single up the middle in the bottom of the fifth, CSUEB’s Joey Dice hit a sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth to narrow the score to 9-6.
•The Pioneers slimmed the deficit once again in the top of the seventh as Adam Hollar reached on an RBI fielder’s choice.
•An RBI triple by Van Til in the bottom of the eighth put the Cougars back up by three at 10-7.
•With two outs in the top of the ninth, the Pioneers’ Omar Sanchez delivered a three-RBI double to knot the game at 10-all.
•With bases loaded in the bottom of the 11th, Bahna delivered a walk-off hit to center to give CSUSM the win.
QUICK HITS •The Cougars improved to 6-3 (2-1 CCAA) while the Pioneers dropped to 4-4 (1-2 CCAA).
•Taylor Greene (2-1) picked up the win after throwing two innings with one strikeout while allowing just one hit.
•Ott’s grand slam is his first of his collegiate career.
GAME 2: CSUSM 13 – CSUEB 4
TOP PERFORMERS
Austin Ott – 4-for-4 | 3 RBIs | 3 R | 2 3B
Jake Rico – 2-for-3 | 2 HR | 5 RBIs | 2 R | 1 SF
Griffin Teisher – 2-for-3 | 2 RBIs | 1 BB
Joseph Bahna – 2-for-4 | 2 R | 1 RBI | 1 2B
Andrew Garcia – 2-for-4 | 2 R
Grant Buck – 2-for-4 | 2 R | 1 SB
HOW IT HAPPENED •In the first five innings of play, CSUSM jumped out to a 9-0 lead that was highlighted by two Ott triples and a two-run homer by Rico.
•CSUEB scored three runs in the top of the sixth off two RBI singles and a wild pitch.
•In the bottom of the sixth, Buck scored on a wild pitch before Ott drove in Garcia with an RBI single.
•Rico’s second home run of the day capped off the Cougars’ scoring as he delivered a two-run blast to left center.
•The Pioneers only got one run back on a sacrifice fly to right field by Omar Sanchez.
QUICK HITS •CSUSM earned its first-ever series win against CSUEB and improved to 7-3 (3-1 CCAA) while the Pioneers dropped to 4-5 (1-3 CCAA).
•John Stevens (1-0) earned the win for the Cougars as he struck out three and allowed three runs on eight hits in 5.2 innings.
•Ott is just the seventh Cougar in program history to tally two triples in a game.
•For the series, CSUSM outhit CSUEB 61-38 while racking up 19 extra-base hits to the Pioneers’ 11.
.@CSUSMBaseball Head Coach Matt Guiliano talks about the Cougars’ series win over Cal State East Bay. #BleedBlue4Decade2 #goCCAA #ncaaD2 pic.twitter.com/NDkOyGVKZf
– CSUSM Athletics (@CSUSMcougars) February 18, 2019
UP NEXT
CSUSM will go on the road to face Cal State Dominguez Hills on Friday and Saturday before coming home to play a doubleheader against the Toros on Sunday.
