Box Score STOCKTON -- Cal State L.A.'s baseball team made program history Sunday with another outstanding performance in the California Collegiate Athletic Association Championship Tournament.

The Golden Eagles captured their first conference tournament title by beating Sonoma State, 7-1, in the championship game Sunday at Banner Island Ballpark. Cal State L.A. (35-20) was firing on all cyclinders in its five tournament games, outscoring its opponents, 49-12.

The tournament title guaranteed the Golden Eagles their first NCAA playoff bid since 2007. That, despite a strong second-place finish in the conference, was no sure thing since Cal State L.A. entered the tournament surprisingly ranked No. 7 in the region. Only six teams qualify for the NCAA Tournament from the West Region.

The Golden Eagles drew the No. 5 seed and will face No. 2 seed Sonoma State on Thursday at 2 p.m. PST at Dixie State College. This will be the eighth meeting this season between the two conference foes. Cal State L.A. is 3-4 this season against the Seawolves.

Ryan Cooperstone was named the Tournament's Most Outstanding Player after a tremendous effort on Sunday. Cooperstone hit a three-run home run to spark a five-run rally in the fifth inning that broke a scoreless tie. He also pitched the final five innings and picked up the win on the mound. The five innings matched a season-high for the Golden Eagles' regular second baseman. He was 3-for-5 at the plate in the game. Cooperstone, who entered the tournament with no home runs, hit a pair of three-run homers during the tourney.

James Wharton also pulled extra duty on Sunday. The conference's Player of the Year started the game on the mound and went four scoreless innings. He had entered the game with just eight innings pitched in six outings. Wharton allowed only two hits, walked only one and struck out two.

The Golden Eagles collected 11 hits in the game and got outstanding production from the bottom of the order. Cal State L.A.'s bottom four batters -- Cooperstone, Niko Garcia, Manny Acosta and Casey Ryan -- were a combined 9-for-17 in the game.

Jeremy Weber continued his hot hitting with another home run, his third of the tournament. He was 11-for-26 for 12 runs scored and 11 RBI in the five games during the tournament.

Sonoma State (34-20) had five hits in the contest, including doubles from Justin Serrao, Devon Zenn and Garrett Schwartz.

The Golden Eagles broke the scoreless tie with five runs after two were out in the fifth. The first run of the game came when Weber scored on a wild pitch. Cooperstone delivered a three-run home run to left to make it 4-0 and Acosta followed a double by Garcia with a run-scoring single to make it 5-0.

Cal State L.A. added another unearned run in the sixth when Wharton scored on a wild pitch and Weber hit a solo home run in the seventh inning to complete the Golden Eagles' scoring.

Sonoma State scored its lone run with two outs in the ninth, but Cooperstone got the final out on a grounder to Garcia at short and the Golden
Eagles had punched their way into the NCAA Tournament.

Cooperstone was joined on the All-Tournament team by Wharton, Scott Masik, Cody Doyle, Weber, Garcia, Tyler Christian and Jordan Sechler.