Box Score SANTA CLARITA, Calif. – No. 3-seed San Diego Christian upended No. 2-seed Cal State San Marcos 6-1 in the teams' opening game of the NAIA Opening Round on Thursday afternoon at Reese Field.

The Cougars mustered just four hits off SDCC (38-18) starter Gabriel Hemmer (8-3), who went the distance while striking out eight.

CSUSM (35-11) will play No. 5-seed Concordia (Ore.) on Friday morning at 9:00 a.m. The Cougars will need to beat the Cavaliers to advance in the loser's bracket on Friday afternoon. The winner of CSUSM-CU will face No. 4-seed Tabor (Kan.) at 3:00 p.m.

The Hawks got on the board in the bottom of the second inning, when Gilbert Viera's two-out grounder to the right side was mishandled by first baseman Brandon Bentson. Taylor Eichorst scored from third to make it 1-0.

With the inning extended, Viera stole second before scoring on an RBI single by Peter Hoyt to put the Hawks up two.

Eichorst doubled to lead off the third for SDCC and came across on Chad Erickson's double down the left-field line.

The Cougars pulled within two in the top of the sixth. Tyler Bernard led-off with a walk before moving to third on back-to-back groundouts. Kenny Belzer brought him in with an RBI single through the left side to make it 3-1.

SDCC put runners on second and third with no out in the bottom half of the frame. CSUSM starter James Dykstra (9-4) nearly got himself out of the jam by forcing Viera to line out to left before striking out Hoyt on a 3-2 breaking ball.

It appeared as if Dykstra would get out of the inning unscathed when pinch-hitter Richard Aguirre chopped a grounder to the right side, but second baseman Mike Guadagnini slipped on the turf while fielding the ball, allowing Aguirre to beat the throw.

Both runners came around to score and put the Hawks up 5-1.

Christian Johnson's squeeze bunt in the bottom of the eighth scored Chris Gonzalez to hand SDCC its final five-run margin.

Dykstra struck out seven in 5.2 innings of work.

Santa Clarita Bracket
May 9-13 | Hosted by The Master's (Calif.) | Reese Field | Santa Clarita, Calif.
Tournament Host Website - may include live audio and video

Thursday, May 9
Game 1	No. 4 Tabor (Kan.) 8 - No. 5 Concordia (Ore.) (28-26) 7
Game 2	No. 2 Cal State San Marcos 1 - No. 3 San Diego Christian (Calif.) 6
Game 3	No. 4 Tabor (Kan.) 0 - No. 1 The Master's (Calif.) 1
Friday, May 10
Game 4	No. 5 Concordia (Ore.) vs. No. 2 Cal State San Marcos, 9 a.m.
Game 5	No. 1 The Master's vs. No. 3 San Diego Christian, 12 p.m.
Game 6	Winner of Game 4 vs. No. 4 Tabor (Kan.), 3 p.m.
Saturday, May 11
Game 7	Loser of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 6, 11 a.m.
Game 8 (Championship)	Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 7, 2 p.m.
Monday, May 13
Game 9	If Necessary Championship Game, 12 p.m.