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It's safe to say that so far this post-season, pitcher
Adam Bileckyj has put the Cougar baseball team on his back.
Less than a week after throwing the team's first 9-inning complete game of the season in the A.I.I. Championship Game, Bileckyj tossed another one at the NAIA National Championship Opening Round in Riverside on Saturday as CSUSM defeated St. Thomas (FL) 3-1.
Fourth seed CSUSM is now 33-17 on the year. Fifth seed St. Thomas drops to 25-31.
Coming off the signature start of the season for Cougar baseball – a 9 inning, 3 run (0 earned), 0 walk, 6 strikeout win in the A.I.I. Championship Game – Bileckyj, a 6'3” lefty, mixes his pitches down in the zone to induce ground balls with great control when he's on his game.
On Thursday, Bileckyj was on his game.
He worked out of a little trouble in the first, as St. Thomas second baseman Hector Bello blooped a one-out single over the infield and advanced to second when catcher Marco Arellano threw a pickoff attempt into right field. The runner was stranded though as Bileckyj struck out Bobcats' cleanup hitter Osmani Sanchez to end the inning.
St. Thomas starting pitcher Manny Perdomo entered the contest with a 3-5 record and 3.95 ERA on the year. The 6'1” righty mixes a hard fastball with a big curve ball that he used liberally on Thursday, as he set the Cougars down quickly in the first inning.
The CSUSM lineup made Perdomo work in the second, led by right fielder Jeremy Baum drawing a 10-pitch walk. Perdomo showed some signs of struggling with his control – starting a theme that would ultimately be his undoing – but would escape without damage on a strike-'em-out-throw-'em-out double play.
Meanwhile, Bileckyj continued to roll on the mound, striking out four batters in the game's first three innings while working quickly and efficiently.
The scoreless tie would be broken in the top of the fourth, courtesy of Cougar third baseman Austin Coleman. Kevin Silvett led off by lining a base hit to left, his second of the game, and Coleman sat on a 1-0 curve ball and blasted it over the fence in left field for his team-leading ninth home run of the season, putting CSUSM up 2-0.
Bileckyj followed that up with a lightning-quick 1-2-3 fourth, with his inning-ending fifth strikeout marking his twelfth consecutive batter retired. In the top of the fifth, a two-out base hit by centerfielder Kyle Secciani and walk to Trent Jemmett drove Perdomo from the game after 4 2/3 innings pitched, 7 hits, 2 walks, and 3 strikeouts. Lefty Corey Estrada would get Silvett to ground out to prevent any damage.
St. Thomas got on the board in the bottom of the frame, as third baseman Elio Ray slapped a one-out single to right and took advantage of two pitches in the dirt that got past Arellano, coming around to score on the pitch before Bileckyj struck out the inning's final batter.
Rey would help the Cougars get the run back in the sixth, however, as a Coleman grounder went through his legs down the line, letting Coleman reach second. A perfect drag bunt single by Omahen put runners at the corners, and Jeremy Baum drove the first pitch he saw to center deep enough for Coleman to tag and score. After Omahen took second on a pickoff attempt that was dropped by Sanchez at first, Anthony Renteria drew a walk to force Estrada out of the game. Reliever Jeff Lara induced a pair of fly outs to keep CSUSM's lead at 3-1.
Bileckyj followed that up with an easy sixth, as Baum ran down a deep fly ball in right to end the frame and strand a runner. After the Cougars went down in order in the seventh, Bileckyj cruised through the seventh to keep the lead at 3-1. A two-out infield single by leadoff man Oswaldo Troconis was all Bileckyj surrendered in the eighth, as he got Bello to fly out to end the inning.
With Lara retiring the Cougar lineup easily in the late innings, Bileckyj took the ball in the bottom of the ninth to finish what he started. Entering the inning with over 100 pitches thrown, he was noticeably going away from his fastball , which had lost velocity. Bileckyj battled through, however, and despite walking his first batter of the game tossed a relatively uneventful ninth. He induced an easy groundout to end the game.
Bileckyj was simply dazzling on the mound. His final line: 9 innings pitched, 4 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, and 8 strikeouts on 119 pitches. The win improves him to 6-4 on the season, with his last two victories coming in particularly impressive fashion.
Fourth-seeded CSUSM will face off against top seed and host Cal Baptist this afternoon at 3:00 PM
