LOS ANGELES -- The force was ultimately with Cal State LA's baseball team Thursday night on Senior Day, but it took awhile for the Golden Eagles to harness its power.
The Golden Eagles rallied with another seventh-inning seven-run rally and later got a game-winning double from
Nic Bereaud in the bottom of the 12th inning to squeeze past Cal State San Marcos, 13-12, in a wild game at Reeder Field. Cal State LA (24-21, 17-18 CCAA) won its fourth straight game in a battle that took 4 hours and 30 minutes to complete.
The Golden Eagles started the day by honoring their 12 seniors in pregame ceremonies and a large crowd enjoyed the "May the 4th Be With You" festivities that included free Pink's Hot Dogs, t-shirts giveaways and other giveaways. A young Darth Vader was in the crowd and was one of the winners of a costume contest.
As for the game itself, Cal State LA fell behind 10-4 before posting its second seventh-inning seven-rally in as many home games. The Golden Eagles used a seven-run rally to overtake UC San Diego in an 8-7 win last Friday and parlayed its seven-run rally on Thursday into an 11-10 lead. Cal State San Marcos (16-31, 6-29 CCAA) regained the lead with a pair of runs in the eighth inning, only to see the Golden Eagles get one back in the bottom of the frame to send the game into extra innings.
The Golden Eagles finally struck for the winning run in the 12th.
Angel Sanchez was hit by a pitch to start the inning and stole second with one out. He then scored easily on Bereaud's booming double off the centerfield wall, setting off quite a celebration.
Gabriel Gentner, who saved a pair of games last week against UC San Diego, pitched a scoreless inning to earn the win on Thursday. The Golden Eagles, after giving up 12 runs by the eighth inning, got 4 1/3 innings of shutout relief from
Robbie Stowell,
George Alamillo and Gentner to give the offense time to win it.
Sanchez had a big game, going 2-for-5 with three runs scored and four RBI. He hit a three-run home run in the fifth inning, the first of his career.
Jorge Garcia stayed hot, hitting his fourth home run in the past three games, and was 3-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBI and
Sean Watkins was 3-for-7 with one run and one RBI. He also pitched 1 2/3 innings and struck out four.
Isaias Torres had a huge game for Cal State San Marcos, hitting a pair of home runs and driving in six runs. Nico Maida was 3-for-6 with two RBI. Leadoff hitter Griffin Teisher was 2-for-4 and scored three times.
The two teams combined for 20 walks, 27 hits, 25 runs and 23 runners left on base.
Cal State LA will play its final home game of the season on Friday at 3 p.m. at Reeder Field.