Cal State San Marcos baseball hosted Oregon Tech on Saturday, splitting a hard-fought double-header.  CSUSM lost game one 11-7, but rebounded to win game two 6-2.

The Cougars are now 17-9 on the year.

In game one, CSUSM held an early 2-1 lead in the third inning, thanks to a pair of RBI's by Josh Miller.  But Oregon Tech would open it up in the following innings, taking advantage of a costly error to score three in the fourth, and adding two more in the fifth. 

Oregon Tech would continue to hit, adding five more runs in the seventh and final inning of the contest. 

Those would prove to be the difference, as the Cougar rallied in the bottom of the inning to make a game out of it.  After a Ricardo Moran single and Dane Ponciano walk, Scott Clement brought both runs home with an RBI double, cutting the lead to 11-3.  After Miller drew a walk, Austin Coleman plated Clement with a base hit, and Louie Russo cleared the bases with a huge double.  That cut it to 11-7, but CSUSM would get no closer.

In game two, the Cougars turned to starting pitcher Johnny Holtman, and he gave them the effort they needed.  Holtman went six strong innings, allowing just two runs on five hits while striking out six. 

He got some nice support from his lineup as well.  James Scott led off the game with a triple, and was promptly singled home by Moran.  The Cougars got another leadoff triple in the second - this time from Austin Coleman - and he came around to score as well. 

Up 2-0, CSUSM would continue to add to the lead.  Scott Clement led off the fourth with a double, and a single by Miller and sac bunt by Coleman put both runners in scoring position.  Mike Pena would drive both home with a big double, extending the lead to 4-0.

After Oregon Tech cut it to 4-2 in the fifth, Holtman would pitch a scoreless sixth to finish his day, and he gave way to reliever Eric Julienne.  Julienne finished the game in lights-out fashion, tossing three perfect innings and striking out three to earn the save.  Johnny Omahen and Clement hit solo shots in seventh and eighth to finish off the 6-2 victory.

These two teams will meet again tomorrow in a double-header starting at 11:00 AM at Poway HS