SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos baseball team (28-14, 15-12 CCAA) split its final home doubleheader of the season against Cal State LA (26-23, 16-15 CCAA), falling 6-4 in the first game before earning a 13-9 win in the second game on Saturday at Dennis A. Pugh Field.
 
With the win in the second game, CSUSM Head Coach Jose Garcia earned his 100th career victory.
 
GAME 1: CSUSM 4 – LA 6
 
TOP PERFORMERS
Zech Samayoa – 2-for-5 | 2 RBIs | 1 R | 1 HR
Rees Kent – 1-for-4 | 2 RBIs
Christopher Tampoya – 2-for-4 | 1 2B
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Golden Eagles took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on a sacrifice fly to left by Omar Gonzalez.
• The Cougars made it 1-1 in the bottom of the first with Zech Samayoa's 17th homer of the season – a solo shot to left.
• A four-run top of the second put LA up 5-1 on an RBI ground-rule double by Kadyn Victorian, an RBI single by Ben Lee and a two-run single by Alberto Prado.
• CSUSM cut the deficit to 5-3 in the bottom of the fourth with a two-run single to left by Rees Kent.
• A wild pitch scored allowed Victorian to score in the top of the eighth and extend LA's lead to 6-3.
• The Cougars were only able to score one more run in the bottom of the ninth on an RBI single from Samayoa to make it 6-4.

 
QUICK HITS

• LA starter Ismael Quintero (3-4) earned the win after striking out five while allowing three earned runs on six hits and three walks in 6.0 innings.
• CSUSM starter Ben Pernetti (1-4) took the loss after surrendering five earned runs on eight hits, three hit-by-pitches and a walk while striking out two in 5.0 innings.
• Golden Eagle reliever Jared Robles picked up his third save after striking out two while allowing an unearned run on a walk and a hit-by-pitch in 3.0 innings.
• Samayoa moved within a home run of tying the program's single-season record of 18 set by Austin Way in 2008 after tying James Scott (2009) for second with 17.
• Samayoa's two RBIs gave him 54 for the season, surpassing Austin Coleman's 2012 total of 53 for the second most in a single season at CSUSM.
• Christopher Tampoya extended his reached-base streak to 15 games.

 
 
GAME 2: CSUSM 13 – LA 9 (7 INN.)
 
TOP PERFORMERS
Zech Samayoa – 2-for-4 | 2 RBIs | 2 R | 1 2B
Michael Weber – 2-for-4 | 2 RBIs | 2 R | 1 HR
Rees Kent – 1-for-3 | 2 RBIs | 2 R | 1 HBP
Max Shor – 1-for-3 | 2 RBIs | 1 2B
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Golden Eagles took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. After a Cougar error put a runner on, an RBI double to right center by Alberto Prado gave LA the early lead.
• The Cougars had a strong response in the bottom of the first as they batted through the order while scoring six runs on a two-run double by Zech Samayoa, a wild pitch that scored Samayoa, a wild pitch that scored Christopher Tampoya and a two-run homer by Michael Weber to make it 6-1.
• CSUSM extended its lead in the bottom of the third to 9-1 on a two-run double down the left field line by Max Shor and an RBI groundout to second by Canon King.
• A two-run single up the middle by Rees Kent gave the Cougars an 11-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth.
• The Golden Eagles went off for eight runs in the top of the sixth with a two-run homer to left by Prado, an RBI double to right center by Carson Panarisi, a three-run homer to center by Kai Penuelas, an RBI single to right by Prado in his second at-bat of the inning and a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch to Ethan Gonzalez to make it 11-9.
• The Cougars added some insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI triple to right by Christopher Tampoya and a sacrifice fly to center by Leighton Helfrick to make it 13-9.
• LA tried to make it interesting in the bottom of the seventh with a couple of singles, but three fly outs ended the game.

 
QUICK HITS

• CSUSM starter Jack Clark (6-1) earned the win after striking out six while allowing six runs (four earned) on six hits and two walks in 5.0 innings.
• LA starter Jonathan Manuel (7-3) took the loss after giving up 11 runs (10 earned) on seven hits and three hit-by-pitches in 3.0 innings.
• Cougar reliever Zach Romero earned the save after allowing just two hits in 1.1 innings.
• With his two RBIs, Samayoa tied the program's single-season RBI record of 56 set by Ray Patchen in 2015 and he notched his team-leading 17th multi-RBI game of the year.
• Tampoya extended his reached-base streak to 16 games while Stephen Espinoza improved his to 14 games.

UP NEXT
With rain expected tonight and tomorrow morning, Sunday's series finale against Cal State LA has been pushed back to 2 p.m. Before the game, the Cougars will honor their 12 seniors at 1:30 p.m.