SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos baseball team was victorious in its final game of 2017, recording a 2-1 win over Cal State L.A. on Senior Day in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) twinbill nightcap on Saturday afternoon. The Cougars dropped a 16-3 decision to the Golden Eagles in the doubleheader opener.
CSUSM ends its 2017 campaign with a 17-33 overall record and 7-31 in conference action. The Golden Eagles will enter next week's CCAA Championships with a 26-22 overall record (19-19 CCAA).
Junior second baseman
Nico Maida went 4-for-5 with two runs on the day. Sophomore first baseman
Domenic Antonacci went 3-for-5 with a triple, RBI and run.
Prior to the first pitch, there was a Senior Day presentation honoring CSUSM's four seniors:
Taylor Ahearn,
Ross Lemmel,
Riley Manquen and
Hayden Weir.
GAME 1: CSULA 16 – CSUSM 3
The Golden Eagles spread out 16 runs in five innings and tallied 20 hits in the twinbill opener.
Nathan Navarrete, Angel Sanchez, Anthony Ayala and Mike Alexander each tallied three hits for CSULA in the contest. Garret Dean came off the bench to hit a solo home run in the seventh inning.
Trailing 6-0 in the bottom of the fourth, CSUSM got on the board on freshman outfielder
Griffin Teisher's RBI single up the middle that plated junior
Colin Dvorak who reached on a fielder's choice.
CSUSM's final two runs came in the sixth on freshman outfielder
Jose Osete's standup triple to right center that scored Antonacci and Maida.
With the loss, senior
Hayden Weir (2-7) struck out four and gave up 11 runs (10 earned) on 12 hits in four innings. CSULA's James Mendez went six innings, relinquishing three runs (one earned) on nine hits and walked four for the win.
GAME 2: CSUSM 2 – CSULA 1
Making his third appearance against CSULA, senior
Taylor Ahearn (7-7) tossed his fourth complete game of the season in the doubleheader nightcap. The right-hander recorded five strikeouts and walked none as the only run scored was unearned one in the fifth inning.
CSULA's Justin Davis tallied eight strikeouts and gave up two runs (one earned) on six hits in six innings of work for the loss.
Leading off the second inning, sophomore designated hitter
Isaias Torres crushed the first pitch he faced over the left field wall to put CSUSM up 1-0. This was Torres' third home run of the series, his fourth on the year.
CSUSM extended its lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth. Maida hit a one-out single up the middle and advanced to second on a CSULA error. A Teisher single through the left side put runners at the corners for CSUSM. Antonacci laid down a sacrifice bunt on the first base line that enabled Maida to score.
The run proved valuable as CSULA's Ryan Dixon led off the fifth with a triple to center and later scored on a CSUSM error.
