LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – Two runs in the top of the eighth inning kept the No. 2-seed Cal State San Marcos baseball team alive in the Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.) Conference Tournament Winners Bracket. The Cougars defeated No. 4-seed University of Houston-Victoria, 5-3, Sunday night at Grizzly Baseball Complex on the campus of Georgia Gwinnett College.
 
The Cougars (34-14) will face top-seed Georgia-Gwinnett College on Monday, May 4 at 9 a.m. PT. If they win, they will be in the championship game on Tuesday, May 5 at 10 a.m. If they lose, the will move into the finals of the loser bracket. For more information, click here. 
 
"It was a hard fought game and the guys battled really hard," said head coach Dennis Pugh. "We didn't play particularly great, but we played good enough to win; and I am not sure a lot of teams I have had in the past could have won tonight."
 
An Austin Ott fielder's choice in the seventh inning pushed pinch hitter John Swilley across the plate to break a 3-3 tie.  Junior L.A. Gamo hit a 2-out RBI single through the left side for an insurance run. Swilley had reached first on an UHV error to lead off the inning. 
 
The Cougars found themselves down 1-0 after Kyle Bludau's RBI double in the first inning.
 
CSUSM answered quickly by evening the game with a run in the next half frame.  Senior Dylan Costello led off with a single, advanced 90 feet on a sacrifice bunt by junior Clinton Perez and scored on freshman Tyler Place's single down the right line.
 
The Cougars took a 2-1 lead after back-to-back 1-out doubles by Place and Ott in the top of the fourth. The Jaguars quickly got back on top with two runs on two hits and a wild pitch in the bottom of the second.
 
Costello's two-out RBI double in the top of the fifth evened the game at 3-3.
 
Junior Cameron MacKenzie (3-1) earned the win after forcing a groundout to end the seventh inning.  Sophomore Addison Domingo relieved junior starter Manny Barragan after one inning. Domingo tossed five innings, relinquishing two runs on three hits while striking out seven. Senior Justin Hertzmann picked up his 10th save after not allowing a hit in the final two innings. 
 
UHV's Andrew Walker (7-4) took the loss after seven innings of work, giving up five runs – three earned – on eight hits.
 
"We are going to have to play our best baseball tomorrow and we will be pitching our staff since we really don't have a starter," Pugh said. "It is important for us to get innings out of guys so we can get through this tournament."