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Box Score
Facing the #1 ranked team in
NCAA Division III, Cougar baseball looked poised to pull the upset –
but a late-inning bullpen hiccup thwarted the upset bid, and CSUSM
fell 4-3.
Cougar starter Johnny Holtman did all he could. In what was by far
his best start of the season, Holtman looked great, mixing a hard
fastball that hit the low-90’s with a changeup and knee-buckling
curveball. He started the game by working two easy scoreless
innings.
Chapman starter Ryan Clear came out pounding the strike zone with
good stuff, including a particularly effective two-seam fastball.
But his defense betrayed him in the second, as the first two Cougar
hitters reached base on infield errors. Dane Ponciano sacrificed
them over with a perfect bunt, and Jackson Chapelone drilled a
fastball to the left-centerfield gap. Chapman centerfielder Ryan
Prechtl robbed him of extra bases, but the runner on third trotted
home, giving CSUSM a 1-0 lead.
The lead wouldn’t last long, however, as Chapman started the third
with a double and single. A well-executed pitch-out cut down the
runner on first attempting to steal, but Chapman was still able to
tie the game with a sac fly.
Clear gave way to reliever Adam Kordich in the fourth, and Chapman
brought in Paul Deese in the fifth. Throughout this, Johnny Holtman
kept dealing for the Cougars, shutting down Chapman’s
usually-powerful lineup.
And the Cougar lineup gave him some runs to work with in the fifth.
Austin Coleman worked a leadoff walk, and Johnny Omahen laid down a
surprise bunt that he easily beat out. Hinton was up next, and
though his bunt wasn’t a surprise, he beat it out anyway. With the
bases loaded, Ricardo Moran scorched an RBI single through the left
side, and Tristan Gale knocked a sac fly to make it 3-1. A diving
play by third baseman Tristan Phillips kept the lead at that.
Chapman got one right back, as a two-out chopper found its way up
the middle and scored a run. Holtman limited the damage though, and
went on to work an easy seventh as the Cougars maintained a 3-2
lead. He gave way to reliever Eric Julienne to start off the eighth,
finishing off a great outing. Holtman’s final line: 7 innings
pitched, 4 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, and 2 strikeouts.
“I felt nice and loose,” commented Holtman. “I had my command, and
most of all, I threw strikes.”
Julienne gave up a leadoff single, though, and was pulled after the
runner reached third with one out. Grant Harrell came in, and though
he induced a flyout, the run was able to score and rob Holtman of
his win. A couple of two-out singles gave Chapman its first lead of
the game. Finally, McClinton Heil, the Cougars’ third reliever of
the inning, got a pop out to close out the Chapman eighth.
The Cougars had a couple hard-hit balls in the eighth, but the wind
knocked them down. Heil worked an easy and much-needed scoreless
ninth, keeping the game at 4-3.
In the bottom of the ninth, Chapman brought in ace Kurt Yacko, who
was promptly greeted by a Jason Hinton base hit through the right
side. The speedy Hinton wasn’t satisfied with one, however, and
stretched the routine single into a double. After a strikeout,
Hinton advanced to third on a balk. But that’s where he would be
stranded, as a groundout and pop-out ended the heartbreaking 4-3
loss for CSUSM.
The Cougars will be in action tomorrow at Cal Lutheran.
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