SAN MARCOS, Calif. – Cal State San Marcos registered a doubleheader shutout sweep of La Sierra with both games finishing at 6-0 on Sunday afternoon at CSUSM Baseball Field.
The Cougars improved to 6-5 with the victories and raised their all-time record against the Golden Eagles to 24-4. LSU drops to 5-13.
Junior
Stefan Miladinovich led the Cougars with four hits that included two doubles and crossed the plate four times. Senior
Ray Patchen went 3-for-5 on the day with two runs and 2 RBIs along with a walk and a hit-by-pitch.
Elliott Stepanof,
Hayden Weir and
Jake Villalobos combined on the five-hit shutout in the opener.
Emilio Esquibel tossed a two-hit, six-inning game with
Joe Fernandez and
Justin Hertzmann coming in to finish in the seventh and final inning to complete the sweep.
The Cougars hit the road for the first time in 2015 with a doubleheader at Antelope Valley. First pitch is slated for noon.
Game 1 Stepanof snagged his second win of 2015 after a two-hit, five inning outing. He fanned five and walked one batter. Weir and Villalobos each tossed two frames in the outing.
In the second inning, junior
Jon Putnam's single down the left line plated
Dylan Costello after he crushed a 2-out double off the left center wall.
CSUSM's offense exploded in the third inning, scoring four runs on five hits that included four doubles. After junior
L.A. Gamo drew a 1-out walk, Miladinovich doubled to left center. Both runners scored on junior
Brandon Bentson double to right field, but was called out when he tried to extend the hit to a triple. With the bases empty, senior
Ray Patchen singled and stole second. Seniors
Denny Vigo and
Dylan Costello hit back-to-back RBI doubles to raise CSUSM's lead to 5-0.
The Cougars added one more run in the bottom of the sixth on freshman
Tyler Place's RBI single up the middle.
Game 2CSUSM never allowed La Sierra to advance beyond second as the Cougars captured their third shutout of the season.
Esquibel improved to 2-0 after six innings of action, relinquishing only two hits. He struck out five batters and walked none. Fernandez and Hertzmann combined for a perfect inning. The Cougars scored in four of their six at-bats, racking up three in the first frame. After Vigo drew a bases loaded walk, senior
Kyle Hansen doubled down the left line to drive in two runs.
An RBI single by Patchen in second inning put CSUSM up 4-0. Two sacrifice flies by Patchen and Gamo in the fourth and fifth innings, respectively, finished the Cougars' runs.
Miladinovich went 3-for-4 with a double and scored three times.
