Cougar baseball picked up a pair of home wins on Monday, getting solid hitting and excellent pitching to defeat Sioux Falls 12-5 and 8-1.  CSUSM is now 15-8 on the year.

Game one saw Cal State San Marcos play flawless defensively (0 errors), get a great effort from the starting pitcher, and score double-digit runs.   

After a scoreless first, the teams traded runs in the second inning, with CSUSM plating its run on a sac fly from Mike Pena.  

San Marcos would pull away in the third.  Ricardo Moran led off with a double, and Dane Ponciano drove him home with a double of his own.  After a walk to Scott Clement, Josh Miller delivered the big blow, a three-run homer off the batter's eye in center.

Up 5-1, CSUSM added to that lead in the fifth, as Austin Coleman knocked a two-run home run over the fence in left.

This all came in support of starting pitcher Travis McCracken, who was cruising on the mound.  The Cougar lefty was in control from start to finish, challenging hitters and locating his pitches effectively in the strike zone.  McCracken went six innings, allowing just three hits and a run en route to picking up the win.

 Meanwhile, CSUSM continued to add to its lead.  Mike Pena and Steve Harris hit RBI singles, and Ponciano and Scott Clement pushed runs across with a bases loaded walks to make it 11-1.  After USF added a pair of runs in the eighth, San Marcos got its final run of the day on a Johnny Omahen sacrifice fly.  The Cougars went on to win 12-5.

CSUSM continued the hot hitting in game two, as Ponciano started the Cougars off with a first inning two run bomb.  Steve Harris would add a sac fly later in the inning to give the Cougars an early lead.

Up 3-1 in the fourth, Ponciano went back to work to extend the lead, ripping a bases-loaded single through the infield to score two.  A few batters later, Josh Miller drew a bases loaded walk, and Austin Coleman added a sac fly to make it 7-1.

On the mound, Cougar ace Johnny Holtman lived up to his billing, allowing just two hits and one run over five innings.  He struck out three while picking up the win.  Cheyne Gorski closed out the game with two scoreless innings in relief.

These two teams will meet again at Poway High on Wednesday, with the game starting at 6:00 PM.