Box Score CARSON -- Cal State L.A.'s baseball team put an end to its recent four-game losing streak, but it certainly wasn't easy.
The Golden Eagles survived in a wild California Collegiate Athletic Association game at Cal State Dominguez Hills, scoring once in the seventh and twice in the ninth to pull out an 11-9 victory at Toro Field. Cal State L.A. (27-17, 24-10 CCAA) maintained its slim hold on second place in the CCAA, one-half game ahead of Cal State Monterey Bay.
Jeremy Weber and
Tyler Christian provided most of the Golden Eagles' offense, each driving in five runs and accounting for 10 of the 11 Cal State L.A. runs. Weber had a three-run home run in the fourth inning and then the biggest hit of the game, a two-run triple in the ninth inning that gave Cal State L.A. the lead.
David Armas got the victory, battling through eight innings, while
Ryan Cooperstone gave up a bloop single to start off the ninth inning before retiring the last three batters, two on strikeouts, to pick up his second save of the season. Armas improved to 7-2.
Cal State Dominguez Hills (21-22, 17-17 CCAA) had 17 hits in the game, while Cal State L.A. had 15. It was a rough day for the pitchers, who saw fly balls aided by a strong breeze blowing out to right and by an inordinate amount of ground balls that found their way into the outfield rather than fielders' gloves.
Christian,
Manny Acosta and
Casey Ryan had three hits each, while
Scott Masik and Weber had two hits each.
Ivory Thomas and Fernando Gallegos had three hits each for the Toros, while Carlos Avila, Hayden Maurice, Chris Allen and Danny Haley had two hits each.
The two teams also combined for eight errors, including six by the Toros.
Cal State L.A. took advantage of two errors in the first inning that helped the Golden Eagles load the bases ahead of Christian's three-run double. Cal State Dominguez Hills got one run back in the bottom of the inning on a run-scoring single by Thomas.
The Golden Eagles made it 4-1 in the third on a run-scoring grounder by Christian, but the Toros responded with five runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 6-4 lead. A two-run single by Gallegos was the big hit of the inning.
Acosta doubled and Masik singled ahead of Weber's three-run home run in the fourth and a run-scoring single by Christian scored Weber in the sixth to give the Golden Eagles an 8-6 lead.
The Toros, though, got a two-run double by Maurice and a run-scoring single by Allen to regain the lead at 9-8 before a fielder's choice by Masik drove in
Niko Garcia with an unearned run to tie the game at 9-9 in the seventh.
That set the stage for Weber's ninth-inning heroics. With two out, Weber lined a triple into the right-centerfield gap that got to the wall after a collision between centerfielder Kevin Logan and right-fielder Charles Rossman III. Weber was thrown out at home trying for an inside-the-park home run.
Cooperstone took it from there, working around a leadoff single with two strikeouts and a pop-up that
James Wharton made a nice play on behind the first-base bag to end it.
Cal State L.A. will conclude the series with Cal State Dominguez Hills in a doubleheader on Saturday at Reeder Field. The Golden Eagles will honor 13 seniors as part of Senior Day festivities in between games.