CARSON, Calif. - The California State University San Bernardino baseball team dropped its series opener to Cal State Dominguez Hills 5-4 Thursday afternoon in a CCAA contest at Toro Field.
With the defeat, the Coyotes fall to 22-23 overall on the season and 14-14 in the CCAA.
The game was scoreless all the way until the top of the fifth inning, when senior
Benji Solano (Chula Vista, Calif.) roped a base hit to right field, plating freshman
Tyson Pettingill (Overton, Nev.), putting CSUSB ahead 1-0.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Toros took the lead for good, scoring four runs to go ahead 4-1. They added a massive insurance marker on a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth.
Cal State San Bernardino made a furious comeback in the top of the ninth. Redshirt senior
Garret Barto (Pittsburgh, Pa.) cut the deficit to 5-2 with an RBI infield single, before junior
Juni Rodriguez (Hemet, Calif.) sent a two-run shot over the fence in center to make the score 5-4. That, however, would be as close as the Yotes would get.
Junior
Eddie Alfaro (Moreno Valley, Calif.) had CSUSB's lone two-hit game in the leadoff spot, with seven other players all collecting a single hit.
The loss was charged to Coyote ace
Devyn Hernandez (Pasco, Wash.), who went the distance in the win, allowing five earned runs over 8.0 innings with 11 strikeouts.
The Coyotes and Toros will play games two and three of their series on Friday. First pitch in game one of the doubleheader is slated for 12 p.m.
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