BRETT CAMPFIELD
CONTRIBUTOR
Friday, March 9.
The Cal State San Marcos Baseball team picked up a big win Friday, defeating the defending NAIA Champion, Concordia Eagles, 7 – 3 at home.
The Cougars out-hit Concordia 9 to 6 and gave the Eagles starting pitcher Brent Clapper his first loss of the season.
CSUSM’s starting pitcher James Dykstra (2-1) was excellent, allowing just 2 earned runs against the high-powered Eagle offense, pitching a complete game and striking out 7 without allowing a walk.
The Cougar offense was superb Friday as well, led by first baseman Kenny Belzer, who had 4 RBIs on the afternoon. Belzer hit a 2-run homerun to left field to erase a 2-2 tie in the fourth inning and give the Cougars a 4-2 lead- -a lead they would not relinquish.
San Marcos added another run in the 5th inning on Trent Jemmett’s RBI double, and Belzer and Mike Mecucci each had an RBI double in the 8th to give the Cougars 7 runs in total.
Saturday, March 10.
Game one
The Cougars led 6-2 early in the game after a six-run second inning in which they knocked 8 hits. However, the Eagles slowly crept back before finally tying the game at 6 in the 5th inning.
San Marcos would retake the lead in the 6th inning after a Mark Ortivez double brought home Corey McCloskey, who had tripled earlier in the inning.
That lead would not stand either, and Concordia tied it back up in the bottom of the seventh. Although the Cougars recorded hits in the 8th, 9th and 10th innings, they were not able to bring a runner home. Concordia hit a 2-out, walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th to take the game.
Andrew Larson (0-2) pitched very well, allowing just the one run in 3 and 1/3 innings but took the loss in the game.
Offensively, shortstop Jeremy Baum went 3-for-5 with 2 doubles and 5 other Cougars had multi-hit games.
Game two
Once again, the Cougars would jump on Concordia early, this time scoring 4 runs in the third inning to jet out to a 4-0 lead, but the Eagles would chip away and come back for the second time Saturday.
CSUSM held a 5-3 lead heading into the bottom of the 6th but gave up 3 runs in the frame and trailed 6-5 the rest of the way. The Cougars had a few strong chances to tie the game or take the lead, knocking 2 hits in both the 8th and 9th innings but could not get the run across. Shawn Sanford took the loss, and dropped to 2-3 on the year.
Austin Coleman smacked his team-leading 5th homerun of the season in the 3rd inning, and leadoff hitter Kyle Secciani had 3 hits on the afternoon.
The Cougars will play today, at home, against La Sierra at 2 p.m.