LOS ANGELES -- Cal State LA's baseball team finally finished a four-game California Collegiate Athletic Association series with Cal State San Bernardino, but the ending was not what the Golden Eagles wanted.
The Golden Eagles held a 7-2 lead after six innings, only to get outscored, 10-1, over the final three innings of a 12-8 loss Tuesday at Reeder Field. Cal State LA (16-25, 11-21 CCAA) and Cal State San Bernardino (33-13, 24-12 CCAA) put an end to a series that saw three games getting rained out in February. Tuesday's game was the third of the three makeup games. Cal State San Bernardino took three of the four games in the conference series.
Cal State LA hit five home runs in the game, including two from
Matthew Piotrowski, who now has 10 on the season.
Fabian Moran,
Johnny Pacheco and
Drew Emmons also homered for the Golden Eagles, who hit three of those home runs in the fifth inning to take a 7-2 lead. Pacheco, Emmons and Piotrowski went back-to-back-to-back in the fifth. The Golden Eagles collected seven more hits after that and had a total of 15 in the game, but couldn't pick up the victory.,
Joel Martinez allowed only five hits and two runs over five innings in his second strong start against the Yotes.
Trevor Baugh pitched a scoreless sixth inning for the Golden Eagles, but the Yotes scored four in the seventh, one in the eighth and five in the ninth. The go-ahead run came on a bases-loaded walk in the ninth that broke a 7-7 tie.
Ethan Gonzalez singled in a run in the ninth for the Golden Eagles, but it wasn't enough.
Cal State San Bernardino collected 12 hits, including home runs from Daryl Ruiz and Jeremy Giesegh. Ruiz had four RBI in the game.
Cal State LA started quickly and took a 3-0 lead in the first. Piotrowski slugged a two-out, solo home run,
Michael Rosales singled up the middle and Moran belted a two-run home run to stake the Golden Eagles to a quick lead.
After the Yotes got a run in the third, the Golden Eagles got one back in the fourth on a bad-hop double by
Ethan Gonzalez that scored Rosales.
The Yotes closed to within 4-2 in the fifth, but the Golden Eagles flexed their muscles with the solo home runs by Pacheco, Emmons and Piotrowski in the bottom of the inning.
The Yotes, though, scored four times in the seventh thanks to two-run home runs by Ruiz and Giesegh in the seventh to get close and then tied it on a double play grounder that scored Derek Bogh, who led off the inning.
Cal State San Bernardino then took the lead for good in the with five runs in the ninth.
Cal State LA will return to action on Friday with the opener of a four-game series against Cal State Monterey at Reeder Field beginning at 6 p.m.
