LOS ANGELES -- Cal State LA's baseball team used some late-inning magic and rallied for an important victory over Cal State Monterey Bay.
The Golden Eagles scored four times in the seventh and three times in the eighth to beat the Otters, 9-7, Sunday in a California Collegiate Athletic Association game at Reeder Field. Cal State LA (4-4, 3-1 CCAA) took three games in the four-game series against Cal State Monterey Bay (4-6, 1-3 CCAA).
The two teams combined for 20 hits, 14 walks and six hit batters in a wild affair that didn't end until
Micah Hee minimized the damage after allowing the first four batters reach base in the ninth inning. Hee got a double-play grounder while a run scored to make it 9-7 and he got the next batter on a groundout to end it.
Ryan Lewis and
Johnny Pacheco drove in two runs each for Cal State LA, while
Tyler Odekirk,
Allen Pacheco,
Gerardo Castaneda and
Thomas Chavez scored two runs each.
Castaneda and
Allen Pacheco had two hits each.
Kyle Guerra had two hits and drove in three runs for Cal State Monterey Bay.
Julian Garcia worked around four walks and a hit in two scoreless innings of relief to get the win for the Golden Eagles.
Fino Amador pitched a hitless eighth innign and Hee finished up in the ninth. The Golden Eagles got a solid five-inning start from
Garrett Boyce, who gave up five runs, but only one after the first inning. He struck out eight.
The Otters loaded the bases on a walk and two singles in the top of the first and Charlie Nasuti was hit by a pitch to force in a run. Boyce almost got out of the jam without further damage, but Kyle Guerra slapped a double to left just out of the reach of
Johnny Pacheco to drive in three and make it 4-0.
Johnny Pacheco's groundout in the second scored
Allen Pacheco to make it 4-1 and a run-scoring single by
Johnny Pacheco drove in
Allen Pacheco in the fourth inning to make it 4-2.
Boyce battled through five tough innings and allowed a single run in the fifth before stranding two and giving the Golden Eagles a chance to come back.
That rally happened in the seventh. Castaneda singled to right, Chavez was hit by a pitch and Odekirk singled to load the bases. Lewis grounded a two-run single to right to make it 5-4 and
Aaron McCann walked to load the bases again.
Allen Pacheco drew a walk to force in a run and tie the game at 5-5.
Randy Buenrostro followed with a fielder's choice to give the Golden Eagles the lead.
The Golden Eagles added three more runs in the eighth. Castaneda led off the inning with a single and Chavez walked. The runners advanced on a passed ball before Odekirk was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Two runs scored on wild pitches while Lewis was at bat and McCann doubled in Odekirk to make it 9-5.
Hee then walked the leadoff batter in the ninth, hit a batter and gave up a ground ball single to left to load the bases. Adrian Collozo's pinch-hit single drove in a run to make it 9-6, but Hee got a double play grounder that made it 9-7 and got the final out via ground out to end the game.
Cal State LA will return to action with the opener of a four-game series at Cal Poly Pomona on Friday at 6 p.m. The series will include a doubleheader at Reeder Field next Sunday beginning at noon.
