Baseball Continues to Roll With Come-From-Behind Win
March 6, 2007

Complete Box Score

Another great bullpen performance combined with a four-run 8th inning vaulted Cougar baseball to another win, as the squad defeated Indiana Wesleyan 8-6 on Tuesday. The Cougars are now 2-0 at the PLNU Spring Classic.

Once again, pitching and timely hitting proved to be a winning combination for the young Cougar squad.

CSUSM jumped out to an early 2-0 lead off Indiana Wesleyan starter Brandon Beachy, but left runners in scoring position in both the first two innings. In fact, the squad loaded the bases with no outs in the first, but managed to push across just one run on a Terry Moritz groundout. The second came in the following inning, when speedster Jason Hinton stole third and made it home on a passed ball.

Indiana Wesleyan would tie the game in the bottom of the second, as a single and double greeted Cougar starter Jeff Stephenson to start the inning. Both runners would eventually score, and Stephenson would last one more inning before Coach Dennis Pugh turned to the bullpen.

First up was reliever Auggie Richardson, who worked his way out of a two-on one-out jam in the fourth, and pitched through the fifth despite giving up a solo home run. The Cougars would quickly get that run back, thanks once again to the speed of Jason Hinton. Entering as a pinch runner, Hinton miraculously scored from second on a sacrifice bunt to tie the game.

The Cougar bullpen would run into trouble in the seventh. After Ian Thompson had thrown a scorless sixth, he exited with runners on first and second and one out in the seventh. Kevin Dean came in and got what appeared to be an out, but a costly error loaded the bases. An RBI single, groundout, and another single followed, giving Indiana Wesleyan a 6-3 lead. Luckily, reliable reliever Grant Harrell was able to get the final out to prevent further damage.

And that would prove critical, because the Cougars bounced right back with a rally of their own in the 8th. With two outs and nobody on, Steve Harris was hit by a pitch. Ricardo Moran then ripped a double down the left field line, putting runners on second and third. After a walk to pinch hitter Matt Jenkins, Chuck Baird also drew a walk, making the game 6-4. A critical error by the third baseman allowed another run to score, and Scott Shapiro delivered the clutch two-run single to give CSUSM the lead.

With the lead now, the game was placed in the hands of reliever Lance McCormick, and he came through. McCormick mowed down the Indiana Wesleyan, striking out the first two batters he faced before inducing a harmless groundout. The Cougars tacked on an insurance run in the top of the ninth courtesy of a Ricardo Moran triple, and McCormick allowed just a single in the 9th to secure the victory.

It was McCormick's first save of the year. He has not allowed a run in his last 7 innings pitched. At the plate, the stars for the Cougars on Tuesday were Scott Shapiro and ricardo Moran, both of which tallied three hits. And Jason Hinton's two runs scored as a pinch runner proved to be the difference in the game.

CSUSM is now 6-11 on the season. They'll continue play at the PLNU Spring Classic through Thursday.