SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos baseball team (24-22, 19-18 CCAA) kept its postseason aspirations alive with a doubleheader split against Cal State San Bernardino (29-20, 21-18 CCAA) on Friday at Fiscalini Field. The Cougars fell 15-7 in the first game before earning a much-needed 9-7 win in the second game.
 
GAME 1: CSUSM 7 - CSUSB 15
 
TOP PERFORMANCES
Fisher Pyatt – 2-for-3 | 3 RBIs | 3 R | 2 HR | 1 BB
Phoenix Sommay – 1-for-4 | 2 RBIs | 1 R | 1 2B
Victor Castaneda – 1-for-4 | 2 RBIs | 1 R | 1 HR
Marco Pirruccello – 2-for-4 | 2 R
Zavien Watson – 2-for-4 | 1 2B
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Back-to-back RBI singles from Tank Rodriguez and Tyler Vanneste gave the Coyotes a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first.
• CSUSB went up 5-0 in the bottom of the second on an RBI single up the middle by Jason Shedlock before a two-run homer to right by Daryl Ruiz.
• CSUSM cut the deficit to 5-4 in the top of the third as Fisher Pyatt hit a two-run blast, his fifth consecutive game with a homer, before Victor Castaneda joined the party with a two-run shot of his own.
• The Coyotes added three more runs in the bottom of the third on a two-run single from Noah Betanco and an RBI single from Benji Solano to go up 8-4.
• A two-run double down the left field line from Phoenix Sommay trimmed the deficit to 8-6 in the top of the fourth.
• In the top of the sixth, Pyatt delivered his second homer of the game and sixth in the past five games with a solo shot to left center that cut CSUSM's deficit to 8-7.
• CSUSB once again went up by four at 11-7 in the bottom of the seventh on a solo homer to right by Wyatt Hall, an RBI double to left by Jeremy Giesegh and an RBI groundout to second by Vanneste.
• The Coyotes further extended their lead in the bottom of the eighth with a couple of two-run homers by Ruiz and Rodriguez to go up 15-7 in the bottom of the eighth.

 
QUICK HITS

• CSUSB reliever Matt Romero (5-3) earned the win after striking out four while allowing one earned run on three hits, a walk and a hit-by-pitch in 5.0 innings.
• CSUSM starter Jordan Townley (4-6) took the loss after allowing eight earned runs on 10 hits and four walks while striking out four in 3.2 innings.
• Pyatt's two homers increased his season total to a team-leading nine while earning his team-best ninth multi-RBI game.
• Marco Pirruccello improved his hitting streak to nine games, tying for the longest on the team this season.

 
GAME 2: CSUSM 9 - CSUSB 7 (7 Inn.)
 
TOP PERFORMERS
Phoenix Sommay – 2-for-4 | 3 RBIs | 1 R | 1 HBP
Zavien Watson – 2-for-4 | 2 RBIs | 1 R
Ethan Rivera – 2-for-3 | 1 RBI | 1 R | 1 2B | 1 BB
Marcos Pirruccello – 2-for-5 | 1 R | 1 2B
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• CSUSB took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second with an RBI double to left center by Jacob Mejia before an RBI single from Benji Solano.
• A four-run top of the third by CSUSM put it up 4-2 on an RBI double down the right field line by Ethan Rivera, an RBI single up the middle by Phoenix Sommay, an RBI single to short by Zavien Watson and a throwing error that scored Cameron Mahaffy.
• The Cougars went up 7-2 in the top of the fifth. After Zavien Watson hit an RBI single up the middle, a wild pitch to Fisher Pyatt scored Trey Becker and Watson.
• The Coyotes closed the gap to 7-4 in the bottom of the fifth with a pair of RBI singles from Jeremy Giesegh and Tyler Vanneste.
• CSUSB knotted the game at 7-all in the bottom of the sixth with three RBI singles from Daryl Ruiz, Giesegh and Tank Rodriguez.
• With the bases juiced and two outs in the top of the seventh, Sommay came through with a two-run single to center to put CSUSM back on top at 9-7.
• Although the Coyotes put a runner on with a single in the bottom of the seventh, a strikeout and two flyouts to right ended the game.

 
QUICK HITS

• Cougar reliever Porter Robinson (2-1) earned the win after striking out two while allowing three earned runs on eight hits in 2.2 innings.
• Coyote reliever Connor Batzer (1-4) took the loss after giving up two earned runs on three hits and a hit while striking out two in 1.2 innings.
• Sommay earned his team-leading 14th multi-hit game of the season.
• Marco Pirruccello extended his hitting streak to 10 games – the longest by a Cougar this season.

 
UP NEXT
Saturday's regular-season finale between the Cougars and Coyotes will be for the sixth and final spot in next week's CCAA Tournament with first pitch scheduled for noon.