Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 Playing the final two games of a three game series in Atherton, CA, Cal State San Marcos baseball came from 5 down to win game one in extra innings 12-10, only to lose game two in the bottom of the ninth, 4-3.
CSUSM is now 19-14 on the season. Menlo is 17-12-1.
After a hard-to-swallow loss on Friday, the Cougars avoided a sweep with a nice late-inning comeback in game one, capped off by a two-run home run in the 10th by Austin Coleman.
In a game where scoreless innings were few and far between, relief pitcher Andrew Larsen picked up a very well-deserved win. Larsen allowed just one hit in four scoreless innings of work, closing out the game. Without that effort, it's unlikely CSUSM would have been in position for Coleman to win it.
The contest see-sawed back and forth throughout. Menlo took a 2-1 lead in the third, but CSUSM scored twice in the fourth to go up 4-3. Menlo answered with three in the fifth to go up 6-4, but the Cougars tied it up in the sixth. Menlo would put up five in the bottom of the inning though, capped off by a grand slam that looked to be the nail in the coffin for the Cougars.
But CSUSM has no quit in them, answering with a five-run eighth to tie it. Mike Mecucci led off with a single, Anthony Renteria doubled, Marco Arellano drew a walk, and Kyle Secciani plated the inning's first run with a base hit. Johnny Omahen followed up with a two-run single of his own, and an error allowed another run to score. Kevin Silvett drew a walk, and Coleman scored Omahen with a sac fly, tying the game 10-10.
With Larsen working scoreless innings on the mound, the game would go to extras, where Omahen led off with a double, Silvett sacrificed him to third, setting the stage for Coleman's dramatic home run. Larsen worked an easy 1-2-3 bottom of the frame to close out the win.
Game two was tightly-contested from the beginning, and considerably less wild. Starter Brett Miller gave the Cougars a nice effort on the mound, throwing six strong innings and allowing just three runs. Miller struck out 4 and walked 2 in what was a nice bounce-back start for him.
Down 3-0 for the majority of the game, the Cougar lineup broke through in the 8th to tie it. Omahen led off with a walk, Silvett walked, and after an out, Trent Jemmett knocked an RBI single to plate Omahen. That brought up Jeremy Baum, who delivered CSUSM's biggest hit of the game, a two-run triple to tie it 3-3.
But the game would end abruptly in the ninth, with Menlo's CJ Dailey leading off the inning with a walk-off home run to win the game for Menlo 4-3, as well as the three-game series.
The Cougars will go to Concordia on Monday for a single game.
