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Baseball Loses 15-7 to #21
Biola |
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A four-run first inning lead had Thursday's baseball game looking good, but the Cougars couldn't hold it, eventually falling 15-7 to #21 Biola. The road loss drops CSUSM to 7-14 on the season. The Cougars' pitching staff was able to limit Biola's strong lineup early on, but eventually wore down and allowed the most runs it has in a game since early February. CSUSM came in allowing an average of just over 4 runs in its previous 6 games. Meanwhile, Biola's staff struggled early in the game, but got it together to allow just three runs over the final 8 innings. In the first, CSUSM's early success began when Ricardo Moran reached second on a one-out error. Tristan Gale followed that up with a walk, and hard-hitting Scott Shapiro drove an RBI double to left center. Shapiro was 2-for-5 on the day with that RBI, pushing his batting average to .329 on the year and his team-leading RBI total to 19. With runners on second and third, Austin Way came in as a first-inning pinch hitter - and delivered an RBI single to left. A passed ball then allowed Shapiro to score to make the game 3-0. Matt Castro walked to put runners at the corners, and Coach Dennis Pugh called for a risky double-steal with two outs. It worked, as Castro was safe at second, and Way swiped home to push the score to 4-0. Biola got one run back in the bottom of the inning off Cougar starter David Julio, as an RBI groundout made the game 4-1. Julio would survive the second, but run into trouble in the third. He was greeted with a leadoff double, followed by a single, and then back-to-back RBI doubles. A groundout and two more hits would push across a couple more runs, and when by the time the inning was over, Biola held a 6-4 lead. That lead would be extended in a big way the following inning. A leadoff single and double knocked Julio out of the game. The Cougar bullpen struggled mightily, as 7 of the next 8 hitters reached base before Grant Harrell came in to record the final two outs of the inning. The big blow was a 2 RBI double to left by Daniel Bodemer. In total, 8 runs crossed the plate for Biola in the fourth; though only 5 were earned due to an error in the middle of the inning. With the score 14-4, the rest of the game was pretty much academic. CSUSM scored twice in the fifth on RBI's by Matt Castro and Steve Harris. Harris also drove in the Cougars' final run in the 7th. After the disastrous 4th inning, the Cougar bullpen settled down to allow just one run over the final three. After getting out of the 4th, Harrell went on to throw a scoreless fifth as well. McClinton Heil and Ian Thompson followed that with scoreless frames of their own, while Jeff Stephenson gave up the one run in pitching the 8th. Julio took the loss, while Biola reliever Derek Dietzen picked up the win. The Cougars will be back at home on Saturday, playing a double-header against Central Christian at San Marcos High. |