SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – The CSUSB baseball team defeated Cal State Monterey Bay to earn the series split on Sunday. With the win, the Yotes pick up their 20
th conference win while improving to 29-11 on the season. Their 29 wins ties them for fifth-most in program history, and their next win will make them just the fifth team in school history to reach 30 or more in a season.
The No. 4 ranked Yotes got out to an early lead in the bottom of the first inning.
Daryl Ruiz started it off with a double to left center field, his fourth double of the series and eighth of the season. Two pitches later,
Giovanni Del Negro roped a double to the exact same spot, trading places with Ruiz for the first run of the game. A
Garrett Macias single would later score Del Negro, giving the Yotes an early 2-0 lead.
After the Otters got one back in the top of the third, the Yotes extended their lead in the bottom of the sixth. The inning started with a solo home run by Ruiz on a 3-0 count, his CCAA-leading 11
th of the season.
Jeremy Giesegh then singled up the middle, scoring Del Negro who had reached on a walk. Then in the bottom of the seventh, senior
AJ Barraza hit his first career home run on an 0-2 count to left field, adding a valuable insurance run to the Yotes' lead.
Monterey Bay would not go away quietly as they loaded the bases in the top of the eighth with no outs. Senior closer
Oscar Rauda entered the game and escaped the jam, allowing two to score on a hit by pitch and sac fly. After surrendering a leadoff triple in the top of the ninth, Rauda closed out the game for his eighth save of the season, securing the 5-3 win. It was also the 21
st save of his career, tying Josh Pond (2011-2012) for the all-time program record.
CSUSB's starting pitcher,
Austyn Coleman, picked up his CCAA-leading seventh win of the season. The senior is a perfect 7-0 in his 10 starts this year. On Sunday, Coleman delivered his fifth quality start of the season, going 7.0 innings and only allowing two earned runs. The Fontana native has yet to allow more than three earned runs in a start this season, equating to a 2.77 ERA.
Up Next
The Yotes will make up a game against Cal State LA on Tuesday at 3:00 PM. They will then travel to Chico State for their final road series of the regular season. You can catch the action on the CCAA Network at
ccaanetwork.com.
To see the full CSUSB baseball schedule, click HERE.
