SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - The California State University San Bernardino baseball team swept a non-conference doubleheader with Central Washington University Saturday afternoon at Fiscalini Field.
The Coyotes won the first game 16-12, before lambasting the Wildcats by a final of 27-7 in the nightcap.
With the sweep, the Yotes wrap up non-conference play with a record of 8-2.
Game 1 - Cal State San Bernardino 16, Central Washington 12
An RBI groundout by senior
Jacob Mejia (Palm Desert, Calif.) broke the ice in the bottom of the first inning, but Central Washington knotted the scored in the top of the second on an RBI double.
An inning later, Central Washington would take the lead on a base hit to left, but the Yotes would not go another inning without scoring. They scored three runs on RBI hits from
Daryl Ruiz (Corona, Calif.), Mejia, and
Jeremy Giesegh (Upland, Calif.) to briefly take a 4-2 lead, but two runs in the top of the fourth from the Wildcats again leveled the score.Â
The Yotes trailed by a run at 6-5 entering the bottom of the fifth, but put up a seven-spot to take control of the game, going ahead 12-6.
Benji Solano (Chula Vista, Calif.) and Mejia bookended the inning with two- and three-run homers respectively.
CSUSB scored once in the sixth and once in the seventh before Central Washington made things interesting by plating five runs in the top of the eight to make the score 14-11, but that would be as close as they would get. A pair of Coyote runs in the bottom of the eighth put the contest out of reach, and
Tank Rodriguez (Fontana, Calif.) slammed the door shut to earn his second save of the season.
The Coyotes scattered 18 hits in the win, led by four from leadoff man
Jason Shedlock (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.). Giesegh went 3-for-5, while Mejia went 2-for-4 with a mind-boggling seven runs batted in.
Conner Batzer (Ridgecrest, Calif.), who threw three innings in relief, earned the win for the Coyotes, his first of the season. He allowed two earned runs on three hits with a pair of strikeouts.
Game 2 - Cal State San Bernardino 27, Central Washington 7
The offense did not slow down in the second game of the doubleheader, in fact ramped up to produce the highest offensive output since the team's transition to Division II.
CSUSB got on the board first again in the bottom of the first inning, when senior
Tyler Vanneste (Warman, Saskatchewan) lifted a solo home run over the wall in right center field to put the hosts on top 1-0.Â
The lead was short-lived, as Central Washington struck for four runs in the top of the second, but their advantage had evaporated by the bottom of the third. After a Solano single cut the deficit to 4-2, Shedlock connected for a game-tying two-run shot, followed two batter later by a Ruiz solo homer to put the Yotes ahead 5-4.
CSUSB cut the game open by scoring nine times, all with nobody out, in the bottom of the fourth. The exclamation point on the lopsided inning came when Mejia sent a three-run homer over the wall in right to give CSUSBÂ a 14-4 lead.
The Yotes would score at least three runs in every remaining inning, highlighted by home runs from
Adrian Hinojosa Jr. (Chula Vista, Calif.),
Pollo Flores (San Bernardino, Calif.), and Rodriguez. In all, the Yotes connected for a whopping seven home runs in the win.
Senior pitcher
Dylan O'Connor (Tacoma, Wash.) was stellar on the hill in the win, earning his second victory of the season. After the rough second inning, he retired 11 consecutive batters as the Yote bats went off to help O'Connor to the win. He finished with six innings pitched, allowing four earned on four hits with four Ks.
Vanneste, Rodriguez, and Hinojosa all had three hits to pace the Coyotes, as the team combined for 23 hits in the win.
Next up, the Yotes will begin conference play next weekend on the road at Stanislaus State. The series will begin Friday in Turlock, with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m.
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