Box Score Cal State San Marcos baseball picked up a huge win on Wednesday, going on the road and defeating previously unbeaten Vanguard University 3-2.
CSUSM crawls back above .500 with the win, improving to 6-5-1 on the season. Vanguard drops to 6-1.
Fantastic pitching and timely hitting proved the difference for the Cougars on Wednesday. It started with Chris Skaalen, who turned in his best start of the season against a very dangerous lineup. Skaalen gave his team five strong innings, allowing just two runs on a pair of hits. He struck out three and walked none, picking up the well-deserved win.
That win came courtesy of early runs provided by the Cougar offense. Ricardo Moran led off the game with a single, and after an Omar Manzanarez double, Kevin Silvett plated Moran with a base hit.
A two-run home run by Vanguard's Kip Masuda in the bottom of the inning made it 2-1, but the top of the CSUSM lineup struck once again in the third. Moran led off with a double, Manzanarez got him over to third, and Silvett got him home with another RBI double.
With the game tied 2-2 in the fourth, Matt Jenkins would give his team the lead, and provide what would end up being the game-winning run. Jenkins led off the top of the inning with his first home run of the season, making it 3-2 Cougars.
After Skaalen stranded two runners in the bottom of the fifth, CSUSM would look to the bullpen to hold the tenuous one-run lead - and relievers Eric Julienne and Spencer Pardon would deliver.
Julienne got through an easy sixth and recorded one out in the seventh, but the lefty ran into trouble, with Vanguard recording back-to-back singles. Pardon took over and hit the first batter he faced, loading the bases with one out. He didn't panic, however, and would get a huge assist from Jenkins, who fielded a line drive in right field and doubled off the runner at second to end the inning.
After a 1-2-3 eighth, Pardon took the mound again for the ninth, and worked around a leadoff single to close out the contest and pick up the save.
Cougar baseball will face another GSAC team this weekend, playing a home-and-home series with San Diego Christian. CSUSM will be at San Diego Christian on Friday at 2:00 PM, then host the Hawks at Poway High School on Saturday at 2:00 PM.
