Down 9-0 after three innings, Cougar baseball didn't stop battling, but ultimately fell to Cal State San Bernardino 11-9.

CSUSM is now 19-10 on the season.

Coming into the game just a couple days after playing four hard-fought contests with Oregon Tech, the Cougar pitching staff came into the game a little worn out, and it showed early.  San Bernardino jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the game's first three innings, building what looked to be an insurmountable advantage.

But the Cougar offense is more than capable of scoring runs in bunches, and a shockingly good performance on the mound by outfielder Spencer Pardon (2.2 IP, 0 ER, 0 BB's, 2 K's) gave CSUSM the break it needed to get back into the game.

CSUSM got on the board in the third when Josh Miller continued his scorching hot hitting with a two-out RBI double that scored Ricardo Moran.  That was just the beginning though, as the Cougars added four more in the fifth.  With two outs in the inning and Mike Pena and James Scott on base after drawing walks, Moran knocked a big RBI single.  That brought up Dane Ponciano, and the switch-hitting DH crushed a three-run homer to right, instantly cutting the lead to a much more manageable 9-5.

And that lead would get even thinner the following inning.  Once again, the damage was done with two outs, as Johnny Omahen delivered a two-RBI triple to score Juan Perez and Steve Harris, then scored himself when the relay was botched.

That made it 9-8, but San Bernardino would strike right back with a pair of runs in the sixth to make it 11-8.  CSUSM loaded the bases in the eighth and got a run when Scott drew a walk, but was unable to push any more runs across in the inning.  The Cougars went down 1-2-3 in the ninth to end what was a very valiant comeback effort.

The squad has a week off and will host Master's College next Tuesday.