LOS ANGELES -- Cal State LA's baseball team got its four-game series against Colorado School of Mines off to a strong start Friday at Reeder Field.
The Golden Eagles got an outstanding start from senior
Owen Hunt and a pair of home runs from freshman
Kai Penuelas to beat the Orediggers, 7-3, in the first of a four-game series. Hunt allowed only four hits and one unearned run in 6 2/3 innings and Penuelas hit a pair of home runs to help the Golden Eagles grab a 6-0 lead.Â
Cal State LA (3-3) scored twice in the second, third and fourth innings to take a 6-0 lead, and, after the Orediggers (1-4) closed to within 6-3, added another in the eighth to take a four-run lead into the ninth.
Kadyn Victorian-Young got the final out of the seventh inning,
Mikell Chavez allowed a run in the eighth inning and
Anthony Diaz allowed a run while getting the final three outs in the ninth.
Penuelas now has three hits on the season and all three have been home runs. He belted a line shot over the the right-centerfield fence to open the third inning and he blasted a towering drive that hooked around the left-field foul pole for a two-run homer in the fourth.
Andrew Tovar went 2-for-4 with a run scored and a run batted in, while
Wilem Drozdowski and
Ethan Gonzalez also had runs batted in for the Golden Eagles.
Jackson Woolwine went 3-for-4 with a run scored for Colorado School of Mines, while Caden Bonds had a pair of RBI.
After scoring a pair of runs in the second inning with the aid of a throwing error, the Golden Eagles added two more in the third. After Penuelas led off with a home run,
Art Ruiz drew a one-out walk, took second on a single by
Drew Emmons and scored on a single by Tovar.
In the fourth, Anthony Angel Jr. was hit by a pitch and scored on Penuelas' second home run of the night.
Hunt carried a shutout into the seventh, but ran into some trouble before Victorian-Young and got the final out of the inning with one runner on.
Cal State LA will return to action on Saturday with a doubleheader against Colorado School of Mines beginning at 1 p.m.
