Box Score For 8 innings on Monday, it looked like Cougar baseball was headed to its fourth straight win. But San Diego Christian rallied for a four-run ninth, winning the game in walk-off fashion 8-7.
CSUSM is now 5-3 on the season.
The Cougars have had issues closing out games this season, and could easily be 7-1 at this point. On Monday, the Cougars got a strong start out of
Travis McCracken, who allowed two earned runs in five innings of work. McCracken, an SDSU transfer, has been outstanding thus far this season.
He was in line for the win thanks to a five-run fourth by the Cougar offense.
Dane Ponciano led off with a walk, and
Mike Pena drove him in with a one-out double. After
Steve Lemmon was hit by a pitch,
Austin Coleman provided an RBI single, and
Ricardo Moran provided the big blow with a three run homer to right, making it 5-1.
After San Diego Christian narrowed the lead to 5-4 in the bottom of the inning, the Cougars re-extended the lead in the sixth. Lemmon led off with a single, and was doubled home by Coleman, who then came home on a Moran base hit.
CSUSM was able to take that 7-4 lead into the late game, thanks to an outstanding effort by reliever
Chris Skaalen. Skaalen was in control of the game for three innings, walking no one while allowing just two hits.
But trouble came in the bottom of the ninth, as San Diego Christian strung together walks and base hits to tie the game, and the winning run came home on a wild pitch.
CSUSM will be back in action tomorrow at Point Loma.
