 |
|
Cougar Basball Gets First Win
of Season, 9-2 over Point Loma |
|
Last year, CSUSM baseball
didn’t notch its first win until its ninth game.
This time around, Coach Dennis Pugh and Co. didn’t have to
wait nearly that long. That’s because the Cougars
(1-2) posted a convincing 9-2 victory on the road over previously
undefeated Point Loma Nazarene (3-1) on Tuesday, thanks to plenty of
hitting and excellent work on the mound. Lance McCormick (1-0) was
impressive in his first outing of 2008.
After an ’07 where he posted an ERA just under 10, the
sophomore looked like an entirely different pitcher, throwing 5
innings of 1-run ball en route to picking up the win. The Cougar offense got off to a
strong start, highlighted by a 3-run second inning against Point
Loma starter Davis Koenig (0-1).
Following a leadoff walk to Tristan Gale, Austin Way singled
to left, and Terry Moritz beat out a bunt to load the bases with
nobody out. Juan Perez
promptly lined a 2-run single, and after an Austin Coleman sacrifice
bunt, another run would score on a throwing error. Gale would add to the lead in
the following inning, crushing a 1-out solo homer over the
right-centerfield fence. On the day, Gale was 3-for-3 with 3 RBI. Point Loma got on the board in
the bottom of the fourth, making the score 4-1, but the Cougars
quickly capitalized on some sloppy fielding to score a pair of runs
in the fifth, driven in by a Gale base hit. McCormick gave way to reliever
Auggie Richardson in the sixth, and though Richardson easily retired
the first two hitters, the following three tallied base hits.
But with Point Loma threatening for the first time all
afternoon, Richardson induced a fly out to centerfield to shut down
the rally. It would be the closest Point
Loma came. David Julio
and Grant Harrell threw perfect innings of relief, and late-inning
insurance runs came courtesy of a Dane Ponciano solo home run, a
Ricardo Moran double, and a Juan Perez sac fly.
Harrell struck out 2 of the game’s final 3 hitters to close
out the impressive 9-2 victory for CSUSM.
|