LOS ANGELES -- Cal State LA's baseball team gave itself plenty of chances Saturday in a California Collegiate Athletic Association doubleheader against Cal State Monterey Bay, but came away with a pair of hard-fought losses.
The Golden Eagles left a total of 22 runners on base in the two games and fell to the first-place Otters, 8-6 and 9-6 at Reeder Field. Cal State LA (17-27, 12-23 CCAAÂ trailed 7-2 in the opener before pulling to within 7-5 after six innings in the opener and then mounted a promising comeback in the nightcap by scoring three times in the bottom of the ninth to pull to within 9-6 before the final two outs were recorded.
Fabian Moran went 3-for-4 in the opener with three more doubles, giving him six in the first two games of the series.
Ethan Gonzalez went 3-for-5 with three RBI.
Cal State Monterey Bay (30-13, 27-8 CCAA) got home runs from Chase Lindemann, Brady Miguel and Kyle Guerra in the opener as part of a 13-hit attack.
Jaycee Flores gave up two hits and one run in relief for the Golden Eagles, while
Jacob Rangel retired all three batters he faced and
Kai Penuelas retired the only two batters he faced to give the Golden Eagles a chance to rally.
Michael Rosales delivered a sacrifice fly, Moran doubled in a run and Anthony Ayala tripled in a run in a three-run sixth for the Golden Eagles to get to within 7-5. After the Otters got one run back in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by JJ Engman, the Golden Eagles made it 8-6 in the eighth on a run-scoring single by Gonzalez.
In the nightcap,
Anthony Diaz limited the Otters to just three earned runs through five innings, but the Otters scored twice in the sixth and three times in the seventh to take a 9-3 lead into the seventh.
Drew Emmons singled and
Matthew Piotrowski and
Michael Rosales walked to load the bases. Moran drove in one run with a groundout and Anthony Angel Jr. doubled in two to make it a 9-6 game. Cal State Monterey Bay reliever Christian McInerney came in for the final two outs to preserve the win for starter Nate Rohlicek, who gave up five hits and three runs through five innings.
Sergio Solis had four RBI for the Otters, including three with a bases-loaded double in the ninth, while Moran had two RBI for the Golden Eagles and Angel Jr. had three.
Cal State LA will conclude its last home series of the year on Sunday with a game against Cal State Monterey Bay. It is Senior Day for the Golden Eagles and Cal State LA will honor eight seniors in pregame ceremonies starting at noon.
