LOS ANGELES -- Cal State LA's Andrew Tovar made sure it was his three-run home run that was the final blast Friday night in a thrilling California Collegiate Athletic Association opener against Cal State Monterey Bay.

Just a few minutes after Cal State Monterey Bay's Cole Murchison gave the Otters an 8-6 lead with a three-run home run in the top of the ninth, Tovar followed singles by Matthew Piotrowski and Michael Rosales with a two-out, two-strike three-run home run to right to give the Golden Eagles an exhilarating 9-8 win over the CCAA leaders. 

Cal State LA (17-25, 12-21 CCAA) scored single runs in each of the first six innings and held a 6-5 lead entering the ninth, but an infield single on a slowly hit ball to third and a bloop double that fell fair just inside the left-field line set the table for Murchison, who gave the Otters the lead with his three-run home run to right-center.

At that point, it looked like the Golden Eagles might be headed to another hard-luck defeat before Tovar, who entered the game as a pinch-hitter, dramatically changed the ending with his home run.

The Golden Eagles got a strong seven-inning start from Owen Hunt, who was named the CCAA Pitcher of the Week and West Region Pitcher of the Week after his last start. Hunt allowed eight hits and five runs in seven innings before turning things over to Mikell Chavez, who stranded a pair of runners in the eighth before giving up the three runs in the ninth.

Cal State LA collected 16 hits in the game with Piotrowski, Rosales and Fabian Moran each going 3-for-5. Piotrowski hit his team-leading 11th home run of the year, Rosales had a triple and two singles and two runs scored and Moran had three doubles, scored one run and drove in two.

Johnny Pacheco went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and one RBI from the leadoff spot and Kadyn Victorian-Young was 2-for-4 with a triple and a run scored. 

Cal State Monterey Bay (28-13, 25-8 CCAA) had 13 hits, including a pair of home runs from Nico Hartojo as part of a 3-for-4 performance. Brady Miguel, Drew Williams and Murchison had two hits each.