CARSON, Calif. – Hitting five of the game's nine home runs, the Cal State San Marcos baseball team (5-5, 4-1 CCAA) earned a 13-8 win over Cal State Dominguez Hills (6-8, 3-2 CCAA) in the series opener at Toro Field on Friday.
 
TOP PERFORMERS
Ethan Rivera – 3-for-6 | 6 RBIs | 2 R | 2 HR
Cameron Mahaffy – 4-for-6 | 4 RBIs | 2 R | 2 HR | 1 2B
Garrett Teunissen – 3-for-5 | 2 R | 1 RBI | 1 2B | 2 SB
Luke Reece – 2-for-4 | 2 R | 2 HBP
Will Potter – 2-for-5 | 1 HBP
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Toros went yard twice in the bottom of the first with a solo shot to center by Noah Karliner and a two-run homer to right by Garet Crenshaw to take a 3-0 lead.
• CSUDH went up 4-0 in the bottom of the second with another solo shot, this time by Andrew Buglino to left.
• The Cougars struck for three runs in the top of the third on an RBI groundout by Rivera that scored Phoenix Sommay and a two-run shot to center by Mahaffy to cut the deficit to 4-3.
• In the bottom of the third, an RBI single to left center by Crenshaw, an RBI double to right by Anthony Accordino and a sac fly to right by Alex Sepulveda put CSUDH up 7-3.
• The Cougars cut the deficit to 7-5 in the top of the fourth with an RBI groundout by Sommay and an RBI single through the right side by Teunissen.
• CSUSM knotted the game at 7-all in the top of the fifth with back-to-back solo homers to left by Rivera and Mahaffy.
• The Toros once again took the lead at 8-7 in the bottom of the fifth with a solo shot to right by Crenshaw – the game's seventh homer of the day.
• An RBI groundout by Rivera in the top of the sixth scored Teunissen and tied the game at 8-8.
• CSUSM hit the game's eighth and ninth home runs in the top of the seventh. Mauricio Guardado hit a leadoff pinch-hit homer to right before Rivera connected on a three-run blast with two outs to put the Cougars up 12-8.
• The Cougars added an insurance run in the top of the ninth on an RBI double by Mahaffy to go up 13-8.
• With one out and a runner on first in the bottom of the ninth, the Toros grounded into a 5-4-3 double play to end the game.

 
QUICK HITS

• Cougar reliever Roman Connolly (1-0) earned the win as he threw five strikeouts while allowing a run on six hits and a walk in 5.0 innings.
• Toro reliever Derek Ryan (0-1) was saddled with the loss after allowing five runs on five hits in 2.2 innings.
• CSUSM's five home runs tied for the fifth most in a single game in program history. The last time the Cougars put up five or more homers was in 2012 against Bethesda Christian as they finished the day with six.
• The Cougars' 13 runs and 16 hits were both season highs.
• This is the first time since 2019 that CSUSM has started CCAA play at 4-1 – tying for the best mark since joining the league ahead of the 2016 season.

 
UP NEXT
Expected Saturday morning rainfall in Carson has altered this weekend's series. CSUSM will continue its series on Saturday with a single game at 2 p.m. and will now play an 11 a.m. doubleheader on Sunday.