Box Score Starting pitcher Johnny Holtman lived up to his status as the ace of the staff in Cougar baseball's home opener on Thursday, and his team survived a ninth inning near-meltdown to defeat Vanguard 7-6.

CSUSM is now 3-2 on the year.  Vanguard drops to 1-2.

The Cougars definitely put on a show for the large crowd at Escondido High, jumping out to an early lead and cruising through most of the contest.  Outfielder Scott Clement led the charge, tallying the game's first run with a leadoff homer in the second. 

CSUSM expanded that lead once it got to the Vanguard bullpen in the sixth, with Dane Ponciano drilling a homer just fair down the left field line, and Clement following that up with his second homer, a monstrous shot to dead center.  Later in the inning, Josh Miller drove home a pair with an RBI double, giving CSUSM a 5-0 lead.

But the story of the game was Johnny Holtman.  The big sophomore righty surrendered a leadoff double in the first, then just about nothing for the rest of his outing.  Holtman threw a lot of off-speed stuff – including a knee-buckling curveball - early in the count, setting up opposing hitters for his overpowering fastball, which Vanguard hitters couldn't catch up to all day. 

Even as he was showing signs of tiring in the seventh and eighth, Holtman continued to battle, allowing just a pair of unearned runs.  He finished with a sparkling line of 7 2/3 innings pitched, 3 hits, 0 earned runs, 9 K's, and just 1 walk.

After Steve Lemmon blasted a home run in the eighth, the Cougars held what looked like a comfortable 6-2 lead in the ninth.  But things would get out of hand fast, as Cougar relievers hit four batters and the defense committed three errors to allow Vanguard right back in the game.  Finally Travis McCracken was brought in, and he was able to quickly put out the fire – but not before Vanguard had tied it 6-6.

Luckily, the game had a happy (albeit a little weird) ending for CSUSM.  Catcher Dane Ponciano led off the ninth with a walk, advanced to second on a wild pitch, third on a balk, and after the bases were loaded with intentional walks, trotted home when Miller was hit by a pitch.

Despite the ninth inning fireworks, it's a nice win for the Cougars, who will look to build some momentum on Saturday when they take on Cal State Dominguez-Hills in a double-header at Poway High.