A wild late inning comeback capped off what was an interesting (to say the least) near-3 hours of baseball Tuesday night at Poway, and when the dust settled, Cal State San Marcos emerged with a stunning 8-7 victory over Vanguard.

CSUSM improves to 14-7-1 this season, while Vanguard drops to 19-4.

The result itself was not particularly shocking - CSUSM had already defeated Vanguard earlier this season - but given the way the game played out, the win was certainly improbable.

A big RBI double by Kevin Silvett highlighted a four-run first inning for the Cougars, but from that point on, very little went the home team's way.  CSUSM had its adventures in the field for the second straight night, committing five errors.  CSUSM used five pitchers, did not hit a home run, and left 12 runners on base to Vanguard's 8.

But the Cougars had heart.  The dugout stayed loud, shouting encouragement even as Vanguard scored a run in the first, another in the second, two in the third, two in the fourth, and one more in the sixth to take a 7-4 lead.

Quietly though, the back end of the Cougar bullpen did an excellent job.  Spencer Pardon entered in the fifth and worked around a botched double play to strike out the side and hold Vanguard scoreless for the first time all night.  He would allow just one run in three innings of work.

Meanwhile, CSUSM's offense would wake back up in the sixth.  Ricardo Moran was hit by a pitch, and Kyle Secciani legged out an infield singled to put two on with no outs.  Kevin Silvett then recorded his fourth hit of the game to load the bases, and after a double play scored one run, a huge two-out single by Johnny Omahen tied the game 7-7.

After Pardon tossed a 1-2-3 seventh, Mitch Ferguson took over on the mound in the eighth, and delivered the biggest performance of his Cougar career thus far.  He got through the eighth in order, helped by a nifty double-play turned by Omar Manzanarez and Johnny Omahen.

Then in the bottom of the frame, CSUSM would re-take the lead without a base hit.  Miller was hit by a pitch, then a big error allowed Omahen to reach.  Mike Pena then stepped to the plate and was promptly plunked, and a wild pitch allowed Miller to make it an 8-7 game.

Ferguson went back out for the ninth, and smoothly sat down the side in order to finish off the wild win.

CSUSM baseball will play a pair of three game series on the road against CSU Dominguez Hills and CSU San Bernardino over the next week.