HAYWARD, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos baseball team (11-20, 7-14 CCAA) fell 9-4 in the series opener at Cal State East Bay (15-16, 8-13 CCAA) on Friday afternoon at Pioneer Baseball Field.
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TOP PERFORMERS
Kevin Van Linge – 3-for-5 | 2 R | 1 2B
Luke Reece – 2-for-4 | 1 RBI | 1 R | 1 2B
Pat MacDonald Jr. – 2-for-5
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HOW IT HAPPENED
- CSUSM scored first in the top of the third inning. With two on and two outs, MacDonald hit a single to center while Van Linge scored from second on a CSUEB fielding error and gave the Cougars a 1-0 lead.
- After a leadoff double by Reece to begin the fifth inning, Zach Berohn hit an RBI single to left to put CSUSM up 2-0.
- The Pioneers cut the Cougars' lead in half in the bottom of the fifth inning with a leadoff homer by Luke Novitske.
- East Bay took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning with a sacrifice fly to center by Francisco Pedraza and an RBI single to right by Jacob Klinovsky.
- The Cougars evened the game at 3-all in the top of the seventh inning. With runners on first and second and two outs, Mark Stanford hit an RBI single to right to score Rivera.
- The Pioneers retook the lead at 7-3 in the bottom of the seventh inning on a two-run single by Manny Garcia, an RBI single by Novitske and a wild pitch that scored Pedraza.
- After a two-out double by Van Linge to center in the top of the eighth, he scored on an RBI single to center by Reece to cut CSUSM's deficit to 7-4.
- The Pioneers kept the momentum going in the bottom of the eighth with an RBI triple by Essex Brown Jr., who proceeded to steal home and put CSUEB up 9-4.
- CSUSM had no answers for CSUEB in the top of the ninth as a fly out, strikeout and another fly out ended the game.
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QUICK HITS
- After coming in to pitch to begin the top of the third inning, the Pioneers' Mark Woinarowicz (5-1) earned the win with nine strikeouts in 7.0 innings while allowing four runs (three unearned) on 10 hits.
- The Cougars' Conner Gleissner (2-3) took the loss after allowing two runs on two hits and a walk in two-thirds of an inning.
- Reece tallied his 12th multi-hit game of the season – second most on the team. His five-game hitting streak is also the longest active streak among his fellow Cougars.
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UP NEXT
CSUSM and CSUEB will continue the series on Saturday with a doubleheader set to begin at noon.
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