SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos baseball team guaranteed itself its first conference series victory with 12-5 and 4-3 victories over Cal State Dominguez Hills in California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) play on Saturday afternoon at CSUSM Baseball Field. The Cougars have taken the first three games of the four-game set ahead of tomorrow's series finale at CSUDH.
The Cougars improve to 13-14 overall and 5-10 in CCAA play. CSUDH drops to 10-12, 5-8 CCAA.
Jon Putnam combined to go 4-for-7 with four RBI and a double on the afternoon, while
Hayden Weir worked a complete game in game two in his first-ever start.
First pitch for tomorrow's finale is set for 11 a.m.
Game 1Putnam was 2-for-4 with three RBI,
Emilio Esquibel (2-3) pitched a solid 6.2 innings, and the Cougars combined for a season-high 18 hits as they cruised to a 12-5.
Putnam put the Cougars in the lead in the bottom of the third, sending a two-out, two-run single to center that scored
Tyler Place and
Austin Ott.
Colin Dvorak and
Hudson Bilodeau notched back-to-back singles with one out in the fourth before
Riley Manquen moved them over to second and third with a sacrifice bunt. The move paid off for the Cougarsw, as Dvorak promptly scored on a wild pitch by Joe Bresson that made it 3-0.
CSUSM added another in the fifth in the same fashion. A one-out base hit from
Clinton Perez sent
Brandon Bentson from first to third before the CSUSM all-time hits leader came home on a wild pitch in the dirt by Bresson.
Brady Conlan's two-out RBI single through the left side pulled the Toros within 4-1 in the sixth.
CSUSM added three in the sixth, highlighted by a two-out RBI double from Putnam that made it 7-1.
CSUDH threatened in the seventh, putting runners on first and second with no one out. However, Esquibel forced a hard grounder to third before Manquen stepped on the bag and threw across the diamond for a double play that squashed the Toro rally.
Bilodeau scored Gamo with an RBI groundout and Place drove in Dvorak in the seventh to make it 9-1.
An error with the bases loaded by the CSUDH second baseman led to three unearned runs for the Cougars as they extended the advantage to 12-1.
The Toros scored four runs off a shaky
Brady Smith in the ninth, but
Jordan Kunz was able to shut the game down.
L.A. Gamo was 3-for-5 and Dvorak was 2-for-4 with three runs scored.
Game 2Weir (2-1) withstood a late charge by the Toros to help the Cougars secure a 4-3 win in game two.
Leading 4-1 heading to the top of the seventh, Weir got into a little trouble after Miguel Castaneda knocked an RBI triple to left center to pull the Toros within two.
Pinch hitter Lester Salcedo flew out for the second out of the inning, but CSUDH wasn't done. Brandon Polizzi notched a double to drive in Castaneda and make it 4-3, putting the tying run in scoring position.
However, Weir got Adrian Padilla to fly out deep to center field, and Dvorak gloved it for the final of several nice plays in the outfield.
Perez was 2-for-3 with two RBI, including a two-out RBI triple in the third that made it 3-0.
An RBI double from Putnam scored Ott to make it 4-0.
Weir allowed just three hits through the first five innings.
