HAYWARD -- Cal State L.A.'s baseball team took full advantage of some late opportunities in the opener of a four-game California Collegiate Athletic Association series at Cal State East Bay.
The Golden Eagles tied the game with two runs in the ninth inning and added two more in the 10th in a 9-7 victory over the Pioneers at Pioneer Field. Cal State L.A. (16-9, 11-6 CCAA) won its fourth straight game thanks to some outstanding relief pitching from
Greg Humbert and a clutch go-ahead squeeze bunt from
Ryan Welker in the 10th.
The Golden Eagles got the tying runs in the ninth inning when a grounder off the bat of
Jesus Cuevas was thrown away, allowing
Trent Zaks and Welker to score. Then, in the 10th,
Kyle Peralta reached on an error and took second on a sacrifice by
Paul Martinez.
David Trejo singled Peralta to third and Welker drove him in with the squeeze bunt. Zaks added a run-scoring double to account for the final run.
Humbert went 3 1/3 scoreless innings and worked around a leadoff double in the bottom of the ninth by the Pioneers. He allowed only two hits, didn't walk anyone and struck out two.
Chris Oropesa worked around a leadoff hit batter in the bottom of the 10th and retired the next three batters, two of them by strikeout.
Brandon Quintero started and went five innings for the Golden Eagles. He allowed seven hits and four earned runs. He walked two and struck out seven.
Zaks went 3-for-4 with two runs and three RBI, including a two-run home run that staked the Golden Eagles to a 2-0 lead in the third.
Dakota Hernandez was 1-for-3 with two RBI, while Trejo and
Lawrence Dominguez scored two runs each.
Cal State L.A. took a 2-0 lead on Zaks' two-run home run in the third, but the Pioneers tied it with two runs in the bottom of the inning. The Golden Eagles regained the lead on a sacrifice fly by
Paul Martinez in the fourth, but Cal State East Bay once again tied it with a run in the bottom of the inning. Hernandez walked with the bases loaded in the fifth to give the Golden Eagles a 4-3 lead, but Cal State East Bay scored twice in the bottom of the fifth and two more in the sixth to take a 7-4 advantage.
Hernandez made it 7-5 with a sacrifice fly in the seventh, setting the stage for Cal State L.A.'s late rally.
Cal State L.A. will return to action with a doubleheader at Cal State East Bay on Saturday beginning at noon.
