SANTA CLARITA, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos baseball team fell to Vanguard by a final of 6-4 in the first game of the NAIA National Championship Opening Round Tuesday morning at Reese Field on the campus of The Master's College.
 
CSUSM (36-16) now goes into the Loser's Bracket to face No. 2-seed Northwestern Ohio on Wednesday, May 13 at 9 a.m.  This will be the first meeting between these two teams.
 
If the Cougars are able to defeat UNOH, they will return to the field later that day to play another elimination game against the winner of top-seed and host The Master's College and Vanguard at 3 p.m.
 
Vanguard wasted no time getting on the board, scoring two runs in the first inning. After a two-out bobble put a Lion on first, Jose Rojas jumped on a change up from CSUSM starter Addison Domingo to send it over the right field wall.
 
The Cougars answered with a run in the bottom of the frame.  L.A. Gamo led off with a single, advanced on a balk and later scored on back-to-back groundouts.
 
Vanguard added a run in the third inning on Paul Keating's RBI double and another in the fourth on a solo home run by David Stone.
 
The Cougars capitalized on a Vanguard shortstop's fielding error in the bottom of the fourth, scoring a run to once again cut the Lions' lead in half at 4-2.
 
After allowing a double and single to start of the sixth inning, Domingo forced Vanguard into a run-scoring double play.
 
CSUSM put together a two-run rally on Clinton Perez's double to left center in the bottom of the frame, making it a one-run game, 5-4.
 
With runners on first and second, Vanguard performed a textbook safety squeeze when Taylor McKnight laid down a sacrifice bunt for an insurance run in the top of the eighth.
 
Domingo (3-2) was tagged with the loss after allowing five runs – three earned – over seven innings. 
 
Vanguard (35-20) starter Sean Isaac (9-5) held the Cougars to just two hits in the first five innings.  
 
Stefan Miladinovich registered two hits and Gamo went 1-for-3 with a run.