Playing in this season's true home opener in front of a large crowd at Escondido High School, Cal State San Marcos baseball looked well on its way to its fifth straight win, but a big comeback by Chapman University sent the Cougars to brutal 6-5 loss.

CSUSM falls to 8-6-1 on the year, while Chapman, the #5-ranked team in NCAA Division III, improves to 11-3.

Despite the cold and wet conditions, the home crowd watched its Cougars take command of the game early, and hold it until the very end.  Starting pitcher Brett Miller gave his usual excellent effort, tossing 6 innings and allowing just a pair of runs.  He walked three and struck out one, surrendering five hits.

At the plate, the Cougars took the game's first lead in the second inning, with Ricardo Moran driving home a pair with two outs to put CSUSM up 2-0.

After Chapman got one back in the top of the third, Ryle Parks put the Cougars back up two by doubling in Josh Miller.

That lead would be extended, as Kyle Secciani and Kevin Silvett blasted home runs in the fourth and seventh innings, respectively, putting the Cougars up 5-2 with just two innings to play.

But that's when things soured, as Chapman started the eighth with back-to-back doubles, and a couple hits, walks, and errors later, the game was tied 5-5.

Chapman would take its first lead in the ninth, as an attempted sacrifice bunt was popped up, but dropped by the Cougar pitcher, thwarting a sure-thing double-play.   After two walks, the game winning run scored on a bases loaded walk.

The Cougars will need to bounce back quickly from this loss to get up for the busy week ahead of them.  The squad will play again at Escondido HS this Tuesday at 11:00 AM and 6:00 PM against Illinois Tech.