Cougar baseball's ninth inning comeback bid on Wednesday came up just short, as the squad suffered its first loss of the season, 7-6 at Vanguard.  CSUSM is now 2-1 on the year.

Newcomer James Scott went 3-for-5 with an RBI, catcher Dane Ponciano belted his first home run of the season, and pitcher Morgan Wynne kept CSUSM in the game by throwing four innings of one-run ball; but it wasn't enough to overcome Vanguard, who is now 1-1 on the year.

The Cougars were able to crawl out of an early 3-0 hole to take a 5-3 lead, thanks to a three-run fourth inning that was punctuated by a two-out error that allowed a pair of runs to score.  But Vanguard re-took the lead in the seventh.  Two walks and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases, and a double by Jason Schaniel cleared them to put Vanguard back on top.

CSUSM threated in the ninth, with Ponciano closing the lead to 7-6, and Jason Clement drawing a hit-by-pitch and getting to third with just one out.  But CSUSM couldn't bring the tying run home, as closer Christopher Carls shut down the rally and secured the victory for his team.

The Cougars will be back in action on Friday at Point Loma.