Box Score

LOS ANGELES – Cal State L.A.'s baseball team had its chances Sunday in its California Collegiate Athletic Association series against Chico State, but still came up short.
 
The Golden Eagles stranded 14 runners on base and left the bases loaded in the ninth inning of a series-ending 6-4 loss to the Wildcats. Cal State L.A. (13-13, 9-11 CCAA) scored 30 runs while winning the first two games of the series, but had to settle for a split.
 
Chico State (29-9, 15-9 CCAA) bounced back from 21-13 and 9-1 losses to open the series by winning the final two contests, 9-1 and 6-4.
 
Cal State L.A. had 14 hits, but had difficulty picking up clutch hits. Daniel Duran led the way with two more hits and a two-run single in the seventh inning that finally got the Golden Eagles on the board. Jeremy Weber was 3-for-5 with a run scored and one RBI, while Cliff Quick also had three hits.
 
Pierson Jeremiah was 3-for-3 with one RBI for the Wildcats, while Myles Dempsey was 3-for-5 with one run scored and one RBI. The hero for the Wildcats, though, was reliever Jeremy Perez, who came on with the bases loaded and no one out in the ninth inning and retired all three batters he faced to record his first save of the season.
 
Nick Baker got the win for Chico State. He consistently got out of trouble through six scoreless innings before being charged with two runs in the seventh. He allowed 10 hits while walking one and striking out three.
 
Cedar Morgan allowed four hits and two earned runs in 4 2/3 innings for the Golden Eagles. Kameron Krise allowed only one run over two innings, while Sergio Luna and Nick Rodarte combined to blank the Wildcats over the final 1 1/3 innings to give the Golden Eagles a chance.

The two teams combined for 27 hits and 27 runners left on base. Cal State L.A. had a 14-13 edge in both categories.
 
The Wildcats took a 2-0 lead in the second inning on a two-run double by TJ Yasuhara and added three runs in the sixth inning to take a 5-0 lead. Dempsey and Ian McKay had run-scoring singles in the inning.
 
Cal State L.A. made it 5-2 in the seventh on a two-run single up the middle by Duran, but the Wildcats got a run back in the top of the eighth on a run-scoring single by Jeremiah.
 
Cal State L.A. made it 6-3 with a run in the eighth on a RBI groundout by Weber, but left two runners on base.
 
Duran led off the ninth inning with a walk – he was also intentionally walked in the first inning – and James Wharton followed with another walk. After Quick singled to load the bases, Manny Acosta drew a walk to force in a run and make it 6-4. Perez then entered the game and put an end to the rally. The Golden Eagles thought David Compton had drawn a walk on a borderline 3-1 pitch, but he was brought back to the plate and wound up striking out. Brian Compton was retired on a pop-up and Scott Masik grounded out to second to end it.
 
All three outs in the ninth inning were recorded on 3-2 counts.
 
Cal State L.A. will return to action on Thursday with the opener of a four-game series at Cal State Monterey Bay.