Game 1 Box

Game 2 Box

LOS ANGELES – Cal State L.A.'s baseball team had to settle for mixed results Saturday in a California Collegiate Athletic Association doubleheader with Chico State.

 

The Golden Eagles got big games from Joe Park and Chris Matzner in an 11-9 win in the opener, but Cal State L.A. fell behind early and saw a late comeback fall short in a 9-6 loss in the nightcap.

 

The Golden Eagles trailed 9-1 entering the bottom of the seventh inning, but scored five times and had a runner on third when Sam Wiley's drive to deep right field was caught for the final out.

 

The Golden Eagles took a wild opener, 11-9. Cal State L.A. jumped out to leads of 5-2 and 10-4, but had to hang on at the end after the Wildcats pulled to within 10-9 following a five-run rally in the seventh.

 

Matt Stropoli came on to get the final six outs for the Golden Eagles, limiting Chico State to just two hits and no runs over the last two innings for his second save of the season. Camron Collard pitched five solid innings to get the win. He gave up five hits and only two earned runs. Mark Sunga pitched the next two innings and was touched for the five runs in the seventh, although only two of the runs were earned.

 

It was not a smooth game as each team committed three errors that led to a total of six unearned runs. Only four of Chico State's 10 runs were earned.

 

Chico State took advantage of a two-out fielding error in the first to take a quick 2-0 lead. Cal State L.A., though, bounced back with five runs in the second inning to take the lead for good. Wiley singled and scored on a balk for the first run and a three-run double by Park gave the Golden Eagles a 4-3 lead. Matzner drove Park in with a sacrifice fly to make it 5-3.

 

Chico State closed the gap to 5-4 on the first of two home runs by Johnny Hay and a sacrifice fly by Deven Braden in the fourth, but Cal State L.A. got a run back with a run-scoring single by Matt Miraldi in the fifth and added four runs in the sixth. Cliff Quick singled in one run, Matzner singled in two and Matzner scored on a wild pitch.

 

The Wildcats made things interesting with their five-run seventh. Jordan Larson started the rally with a two-run home run and the Wildcats cashed in on another two-out fielding error that extended the inning. Hay drilled his second home run of the game, a three-run shot, to make it 10-9.

 

Park, though, singled in a run in the bottom of the seventh to make it 11-9 and Stropoli took it from there, silencing the Wildcats the rest of the way.

 

Park was 3-4 with four RBI, while Matzner was 2-4 with three RBI for the Golden Eagles.

 

Chico State jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead in the nightcap. Michael Murphy led off the game with a home run and Jackson Evans had a two-run homer later in the inning.

 

The Wildcats scored two more times in the fourth inning on a two-run single by Hay. Cal State L.A. finally got on the board in the bottom of the inning on a groundout by Jordan Castro.

 

Chico State added three more unearned runs in the sixth and seemed to have things well in hand entering the bottom of the seventh. Cal State L.A., though, had five straight pinch hitters reach base. Brett Whalen walked and Brendan McQuaid, Sunga, Nathan Halverson and Chris Espinosa followed with singles. Quick was hit by a pitch and another run scored on a double play groundout to make it 9-5. Ramirez doubled to left to make it 9-6, but Wiley's drive to right was caught just in front of the wall for the final out.

 

Casey Edelbrock pitched six strong innings to get the win for Chico State. He allowed only four hits and one run. Wally Goodline allowed six earned runs in six innings for Cal State L.A.

 

Murphy scored three runs for the Wildcats, while Hay drove in three runs with a pair of hits.

 

The series will conclude on Sunday with a single game at Reeder Field beginning at noon.