SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – The CSUSB baseball team scored a combined 22 runs on Saturday, leading them to two victories over Saint Martin's to secure the series win. With the pair of wins, the Yotes improve to 6-0 on the season, trailing only Cal Poly Pomona (7-0) in the CCAA overall standings.
Game 1: CSUSB 10, SMU 1
Yotes' catcher
Garrett Macias was the hero in game one, going a perfect 3-for-3 while hitting CSUSB's first grand slam of the season in the bottom of the third inning. The Riverside native scored twice while driving in 5 RBI and walking once.
Takuto Kataoka also recorded three hits in the game, improving his average on the season to .400. The Edmonds CC transfer, and Yotes' leadoff hitter, currently ranks third on the team in runs scored on the season with eight.
Danny Garcia continued to show his power to the pull side, hitting an RBI double off the wall in right center field in the bottom of the third. The junior is currently slugging .833, tied for third best on the team.
Starting pitcher
Benny Olguin delivered an excellent start on the mound, allowing zero earned runs in 5.0 innings en route to his first win of the season. Olguin struck out eight batters on 82 pitches, while only walking two. Through his first two appearances, the Pasadena CC transfer leads CSUSB with 14 strikeouts while owning an incredible 18.00 strikeouts per nine ratio on the season.
Conner Batzer and
Kegan Wentz were rock solid out of the pen, allowing a combined one hit in the remaining 4.0 innings of the game. Bazter struck out five of the 11 batters he faced on 45 pitches while Wentz retired the side to close out the game in the ninth.
Game 2: CSUSB 12, SMU 4 (7 innings)
The bats once again came out hot in game two, scoring double-digits for the fourth consecutive game.
Deshawn Johnson led the way, going 3-for-3 with his first home run of the season, 3 RBI, and 4 runs scored. The senior from Puyallup, WA leads CSUSB in nearly every run creation category, including: batting average (.667), OPS (1.619), runs scored (13), hits (12), walks (9), on-base percentage (.786), and stolen bases (2-for-2).
The Yotes capitalized on seven walks and an error to score 12 runs on 10 hits.
Giovanni Del Negro accounted for three of those runs while also collecting in 3 RBI.
Jake Borst,
Jason Shedlock, and
Patrick Fregoso each collected 2 RBI throughout the course of the game as well.
Dylan O'Connor picked up the win on the mound for the Yotes, delivering 5.0 innings in his start. O'Connor struck out five batters while allowing two walks and four earned runs on 75 pitches. The bullpen continued to deliver in game two, with
Chris Hernandez and
Andrick Jones allowing no runs and no hits in the final two innings of the game. Between both games, the Yotes' pen threw 6.0 innings allowing just one hit with no walks and eight strikeouts.
Up Next
The Yotes and Saints will conclude their series tomorrow, February 12
th, with a game at 11:00 AM. You can purchase tickets
here or catch the action on the CCAA Network at
ccaanetwork.com.
To see the full CSUSB baseball schedule, click HERE.
