SEASIDE -- Cal State LA's baseball team earned a split Thursday in a series-opening doubleheader at Cal State Monterey Bay.

The Golden Eagles got some outstanding pitching from Holden Hungerford, Eric Navarrete and Joel Martinez to win 5-1 in the opener and then rallied impressively from an early deficit to make things interesting before falling, 9-6, in the seven-inning nightcap at the Otter Sports Complex.

Cal State LA (14-14, 8-10 CCAA) remains in sixth place in the CCAA, while Cal State Monterey Bay (19-11, 15-7 CCAA) pulled into a tie for first place with Cal State San Marcos.

Hungerford picked up the first win of his Cal State LA career with a splendid start in the opener. He allowed only two hits and one run over five innings. He walked four and struck out three.

He was back by four scoreless innings of relief from Navarrete and Martinez, who combined for four scoreless innings of relief. Navarrete allowed one hit and one run over two innings, while Martinez finished up by allowing no hits over the final two innings. He worked around three walks and struck out two.

The Golden Eagles allowed only three hits in the game and were able to successfully navigate eight walks and one hit batter.

Isaiah Marquez went 3-for-4 with three runs scored, while Malik Clayton went 2-for-4 with one run scored and one RBI.

After the Otters took a 1-0 lead in the first, the Golden Eagles scored two runs in the second. Anthony Angel Jr. grounded into a double play while Marquez scored to tie it and a single by Ethan Gonzalez drove in Clayton for the lead.

Clayton singled in Matthew Piotrowski to make it 3-1 in the sixth and Angel Jr. delivered a sacrifice fly to score Marquez and extend the lead to 4-1.

Cal State LA completed the scoring in the eighth when Drew Emmons reached on a fielder's choice to drive in Marquez.

The Golden Eagles rallied to slice a 7-1 deficit to 7-6 with a five-run rally in the fourth, but couldn't get any closer. 

The Otters scored four times in the first and got a three-run home run from Jaden Sheppard in the third before the Golden Eagles put up five runs in the fifth. 

Javy Espinoza reached on an error that allowed Gonzalez and Kadyn Victorian to score, Marquez doubled in Espinoza and Clayton doubled in Marquez and Emmons reached on an error to drive in Clayton to bring the Golden Eagles to within 7-5.

The Otters responded with single runs in the fourth and sixth innings to extend their lead.

Clayton went 3-for-4 with a solo home run, two runs scored and two RBI, while Gonzalez and Emmons had two hits each.

Cal State LA will return to action on Friday with a single game set to begin at 1 p.m.