SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - The California State University San Bernardino baseball team opened the CCAA Tournament with a 12-4 win over Cal State Los Angeles Wednesday afternoon in an elimination game at Fiscalini Field.
With the victory, the Coyotes advance into the double-elimination portion of the tournament, and will now face top-seeded Cal State Monterey Bay tomorrow at 6 p.m.
CSUSB broke through first, scoring a pair of runs in both the second and third innings to take a 4-0 lead. Senior Jeremy Giesegh (Upland, Calif.) drove in the first Coyote run of the day with a sac fly to left, before classmate Benji Solano (Chula Vista, Calif.) drove in another with a base hit to right.
In the third, CSUSB doubled its lead on a two-run homer from sophomore Keedan Nadeau (Highland, Calif.).
Cal State LA got three back in the top of the fourth, but a solo homer by redshirt senior Garret Barto (Pittsburgh, Pa.) saw CSUSB go back ahead by two in the top of the fifth.
Despite Cal State LA's solo homer in the bottom of the fifth, the Coyotes broke the game open in the top of the sixth, posting six runs to go up 11-4. Giesegh and junior Eddie Alfaro (Moreno Valley, Calif.) each posted RBI singles, before Barto crushed a grand slam over the fence in left to put CSUSB up by seven.
Alfaro's solo home run in the top of the eighth gave the Coyotes some insurance, pushing the game to its final score of 12-4.
CSUSB outhit the Golden Eagles 12-8 in the victory, and were paced by a 4-for-5 effort from Barto with five RBIs and three runs scored. Nadeau went 3-for-3, while Giesegh and Alfaro each had a pair of hits.
Redshirt senior Devyn Hernandez (Pasco, Wash.) turned in a massive performance for the Yotes on the hill, going 8.2 innings with 11 strikeouts and 135 pitches for his fourth victory of the season.
#GoYotes
