Box Score

LOS ANGELES – Cal State L.A.'s baseball team rode the long ball to a victory Thursday in its 2011 season opener against Saint Martin's.

 

The Golden Eagles slugged five home runs and got outstanding relief pitching in the late innings to beat the Saints, 8-5, Thursday at Reeder Field. Cal State L.A. (1-0) got a go-ahead two-run home run from Noe Flores in the sixth inning and blanked the Saints over the final three innings.

 

Chad Nacapoy hit two home runs for the Golden Eagles, while Daniel Duran and Brian Moon also hit homers. Duran's home run came on the first pitch while leading off the bottom of the first inning.

 

Jacob Valenzuela (1-0) held Saint Martin's scoreless over 2 1/3 innings to pick up the win, while Thomas Landeros struck out two in a scoreless ninth inning to get the save.

 

Andrew Elke had a pair of hits and drove in two runs for Saint Martin's, while Kyle Baskett had two hits and scored a run.

 

Duran and Nacapoy each had two hits to lead a 10-hit attack for the Golden Eagles.

 

Cal State L.A. Hall of Famer and current Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Jay Gibbons threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the game. Gibbons, who earned All-West Region and All-Conference honors all three seasons he was with the Golden Eagles, was a part of two California Collegiate Athletic Association championship teams at Cal State L.A. in 1997-98.

 

The Golden Eagles struck quickly, scoring two runs in the first inning. After Duran greeted Saint Martin's starter Tommy DeBoer with a home run on his first pitch, Joe Park singled up the middle. He stole second, moved to third on a groundout by Nacapoy and scored on an error.

 

The Golden Eagles made it 3-0 in the third inning when Nacapoy hit the first of his two solo home runs.

 

Saint Martin's got an unearned run in the fourth inning off Cal State L.A. starter Wally Goodline. Aaron Johnson walked, took second on a passed ball and eventually scored on an infield error.

 

The Saints took the lead with a four-run sixth inning. Elke singled in two runs to make it 3-3 and a dropped fly ball led to two more runs and gave the Saints a 5-3 edge.

 

Moon led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a solo home run to make it 5-4 and, after a single by Andrew Allen, Flores hit a two-run homer to right-center to give the Golden Eagles a 6-5 lead.

 

Nacapoy hit his second home run of the game in the seventh inning to make it 7-5 and Duran singled in Manny Acosta in the eighth inning to make it 8-5.

 

Cal State L.A. will return to action with a pair of games at Reeder Field on Saturday, facing Cal Poly Pomona at 10 a.m. and Saint Martin's at 3 p.m.