LOS ANGELES -- Cal State LA's baseball team had endured a frustrating first two games of a four-game California Collegiate Athletic Association series against first-place Chico State, but that all changed in dramatic fashion.
The Golden Eagles got a game-winning hit from
Wilem Drozdowski to score
Nick Atkins from second base for an exciting 2-1 win over the Wildcats in the nightcap of a tight doubleheader. The win snapped a seven-game losing streak for the Golden Eagles and gave them a split of Saturday's doubleheader. Chico State won the opener, 8-7, so the first three games of the series have been decided by one run.
Chico State (24-7, 17-5 CCAA) got an unearned run in the top of the seventh inning to send the game into extra innings and the Golden Eagles (12-17, 7-12 CCAA) ended it one inning later. Atkins, whose errant relay throw enabled the Wildcats to tie the game with two outs in the top of the seventh, redeemed himself in a big way with a sharp one-out single in the bottom of the eighth inning to start the game-winning rally.
Michael Rosales also singled sharply to move Atkins to second, setting the stage for Drozdowski. After Atkins was nearly picked off of second base, Drozdowski smacked a shot toward right field. Second baseman Jeffrey Ray, who has been sensational defensively all series long, made a diving attempt at the ball and it ticked off his glove and into right, giving Atkins enough time to race around with the winning run.
Owen Hunt pitched seven sensational innings for Cal State LA, but had to settle for a no-decision. He carried a shutout into the seventh, but a two-out walk on a 3-2 pitch to Willie LaJoie kept the game alive for the Wildcats. Grady Morgan followed with a double to right-center and the Golden Eagles appeared to have plenty of time to get pinch runner Ernie Arambula at the plate, especially after Arambula slipped and fell between third and home. The relay throw, though, was well up the line and Arambula was able to scramble his way to the plate to tie the game. Hunt retired the final batter he faced on a grounder to end the inning.
Hunt allowed five hits and the unearned run with no walks and four strikeouts.
Chico State starter Austin McFarlane was also magnificent and was saddled with a tough-luck loss. He gave up seven hits and one earned run in 7 1/3 innings.
Micah Hee breezed through a 1-2-3 eighth inning for the Golden Eagles and picked up the win.
Cal State LA took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a fielder's choice RBI from
A.J. Salgado.
Johnny Pacheco reached on an error to start the game, moved to third on a single by Drozdowski and then scored on the grounder from Salgado.
That 1-0 score held until the late innings.
In the opener, Chico State opened up an 8-4 lead after a three-run home run by Jack Murphy in the sixth inning and held on for an 8-7 win. Cal State LA struck for a run in the sixth and two more in the seventh, but couldn't get any closer as Chico State relievers Josh Verdon and Eric Hill got the final eight outs to preserve the win for Chico State starter Cody Gentry.
Cal State LA starter
Dylan Needham kept the Golden Eagles within striking distance after allowing four runs in the first two innings and only an unearned run over his final 2 2/3 innings.
Christian Longoria got the final out of the fifth and
Colby Davis, after allowing Murphy's three-run home run in the sixth, was magnificent while blanking the Wildcats over the final three innings.
Grady Morgan went 4-for-5 with a pair of RBI for the Wildcats, while Andrew Crane also drove in a pair of runs.
Will Picketts and
Michael Rosales had three hits each for the Golden Eagles, while
Noe Garcia had a pair of hits. Rosales and
Drew Emmons had a pair of RBI each.
After Chico State took a 4-0 lead after its first at bats, the Golden Eagles cut the lead in half with a two-run effort in the bottom of the second. Rosales doubled in Picketts for the first run and Emmons' run-scoring single made it 4-2.
Chico State made it 5-2 with an unearned run in the fifth, but Cal State LA bounced right back with two runs in the bottom of the inning to pull to within a run. Drozdowski walked and singles by Salgado and Picketts loaded the bases. Rosales lined a single to right to score one run and a sacrifice fly by Emmons made it 5-4.
After Murphy made it 8-4 in the top of the sixth, Cal State LA again responded with one run in the bottom of the sixth on a run-scoring double by Pacheco and two more in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Pacheco and a run-scoring single up the middle by
Noe Garcia. That brought in Verdon, who got a pair of strikeouts to get out of the inning.
The two teams combined for 27 hits in the opener with Cal State LA collecting 14 and Chico State picking up 13.
Cal State LA will conclude the series against Chico State with a single game on Sunday beginning at 11 a.m. Â
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