Box Score LYNN, Mass. – No. 6-seed Houston-Victoria used a three-run sixth inning to overcome a two-run deficit, eliminating the No. 3-seed Cal State San Marcos baseball team from the Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.) Baseball Championship, 3-2, on Sunday afternoon at Fraser Field.

The Cougars (30-18) fell one victory shy of earning a trip to the A.I.I. championship game and an automatic bid to the NAIA National Championship. UHV (22-23) will battle for the A.I.I. title on Monday against the winner of No. 1-seed Georgia Gwinnett and No. 2-seed Louisiana State-Alexandria, who are playing in an elimination game Sunday evening.

The A.I.I. champion and runner-up receive automatic bids to the NAIA National Championship; CSUSM will have to wait and see if the NAIA postseason committee grants the team an at-large berth.

CSUSM took a 1-0 lead in the first on Rich Montanez's RBI single and added another when Noah Buchanan squeezed home Dylan Costello in the fourth.

Brooks Noble and Costello connected with back-to-back singles to lead-off the top of the sixth, but CSUSM couldn't cash in and left runners on second and third.

The Jaguars took advantage of the Cougars' missed opportunity. An RBI double from Kyle Bludau cut the deficit in half before two-out RBI singles from Stephen Shorkey and Robert Zaragoza put UHV in the lead for good, 3-2.

Costello went 3-for-4 with a double, while Montanez was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a walk.

Hunter Brown (5-5) struck-out four in six innings of work for the Cougars, surrendering eight hits and the three UHV scores.

Andre Del Bosque (2-5) threw four innings of relief and earned the win for UHV. He held CSUSM to just one hit over the final three frames and struck out a pair in the ninth.

Kyle Kuck got the first batter of the eighth inning out, and Justin Hertzmann closed out the final 1.2 innings without giving up a hit.