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Way’s Three Home Runs Help
Baseball Survive Scare Against Bethany |
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Facing Bethany on Friday, DH Austin Way slugged three home runs in a game for the second time this week, and his Cougars held on to win its fourth straight game. The slugfest, which was closer than it should have been, ended 16-13 in favor of San Marcos. Cougar starter Lance McCormick began the game with an uncharacteristic walk, but got out of the inning with no damage thanks to a very characteristic double play. McCormick keeps the ball down and throws strikes, mixing a fastball, changeup, and curveball to keep hitters guessing. CSUSM would have no trouble generating offense off Bethany starter Nick Renzi. Ricardo Moran was hit by a pitch leading off, and Austin Way and Tristan Gale roped one out singles to load the bases. The first run came in to score on a grounder where the throw home drew the catcher off the plate, and Way came home on a Dane Ponciano ground out. Bethany got one back in the second on a Bryan Beres home run, but CSUSM re-extended it after Austin Coleman doubled to lead off the inning, and Jason Hinton drove him in with a two-out single. That brought red-hot Austin Way to the plate, and Way turned on Renzi’s 2-2 offering, driving it over the fence in right. His 13th home run of the season gave the Cougars a 5-1 lead. A Jason Hinton two-run bomb in the fourth made the lead 7-2, and Way immediately followed with a shot of his own to center, his 14th homer of the season. Meanwhile, McCormick survived numerous bloop singles and very shaky team defense early, but after the excessively long bottom of the fourth, came out rusty in the fifth and couldn’t get out of it. Reliever Auggie Richardson got the final out, but not before the lead was a somewhat-tenuous 10-6. Once again, it was Way who stopped Bethany’s momentum. The Cougar DH smacked his third home run of the game and 15th of the season in the fifth, giving him two three home run games this week. But Bethany wouldn’t go away, as the seemingly-lifeless Cougar defense committed its fourth error, making the game 11-9. Relievers Richardson, Grant Harrell, McClinton Heil, and Eric Julienne were all ineffective, surrendering the lead as Bethany strung together hit after hit to go up 12-11. Ace reliever David Julio gave CSUSM a much-needed scoreless seventh, inducing an inning-ending double play that was turned nicely by Louie Russo and Johnny Omahen. That opened the door in the bottom of the inning, as Terry Moritz tied the game with a leadoff homer to left. With two on and two out, Russo delivered the biggest hit of the game, driving a 2-2 fastball over the leftfield fence. The blast put CSUSM up 15-12. Bethany loaded the bases with one out in the eighth, but Julio escaped again, inducing another ground ball that Russo and Omahen were able to turn two on. For the second straight inning, CSUSM extended the lead quickly, as Gale led off the bottom of the eighth by hitting a ball onto San Marcos Blvd, making it 16-12. Julio surrendered a two-out home run in the ninth, but nice plays by Hinton and Omahen provided a merciful end to the 3 ½ hour contest. The win evens CSUSM’s record at 14-14-1. These two teams will play tomorrow at 2:00 at San Marcos High.
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