There's no tying in baseball - unless you're playing on a field with no lights.

Cal State San Marcos baseball went on the road and played the #2-ranked team in the NAIA, Point Loma Nazarene, to a very hard-fought 1-1 tie on Wednesday.  It was the season opener for both teams, who now sport the rarely-seen record of 0-0-1.

Despite just missing out on the win, it's still a fantastic result for CSUSM.  The game advanced through ten full innings scoreless, with neither lineup so much as threatening to score a run.  The Cougars finally broke the ice in the 11th.  Shortstop Johnny Omahen, who had a super solid day defensively, beat out an infield single for his second hit of the game.  He advanced to second on a wild pitch, stole third on a very close play, and came in to score when Omar Manzanarez delivered a huge RBI single in his first game as a Cougar.

But with their backs against the wall, Point Loma answered right back, tying the game with one out in the bottom of the frame.  The teams would play a scoreless twelfth before the game was called due to darkness.

The story of the day was the pitching.  Entering this season, Coach Dennis Pugh felt that his pitching staff was the strongest and deepest its been in the team's four-year history, and it certainly looked that way on Wednesday.  Starter Brett Miller was dominant, tossing 7 innings of two-hit, shutout baseball.  The SDSU transfer struck out five and walked just one.

After Travis McCracken made a brief appearance, recording a strikeout and allowing a hit, Johnny Holtman came in and pitched a couple great innings before Point Loma was able to tie the game off him in the eleventh.  Auggie Richardson and Spencer Pardon faced a batter each in that inning, and with the winning run on third and just one out, lefty Eric Julienne came in and got his team out of the inning with no further damage.  Newcomer Richard Martin threw a scoreless twelfth to preserve the tie.

For Point Loma, starting pitcher Steve Winnick matched Miller pitch-for-pitch, allowing just one hit in 7 scoreless innings.

The Cougars will play a "home" double-header this Saturday at Vanguard University against Oregon Tech, but the team's true home opener is February 6th at Escondido against Patten.