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Baseball Closes Out Season with Rousing Late-Inning Comeback |
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Cougar baseball finished its season in style on Wednesday, rallying for six runs in the final three innings to down San Diego Christian 10-8. It's a great final win for the Cougars to cap off what has been a resurgent season. Last year, the squad went 18-23 in its first year. They finish this season at 22-16-1. Senior Jared Suwyn, who in his one year at CSUSM established himself as a team leader both on and off the diamond, got the start in the season's final game. Suwyn has been limited by injuries for much of the year, but never shied away from taking the ball or pinch hitting. San Diego Christian got a run off him in the first, and CSUSM answered right back with a run of its own, courtesy of a Dane Ponciano RBI double. SD Christian went back up 3-1 in the second, but once again the Cougars were quick to respond. A big fourth inning started with singles by Terry Moritz and Jackson Chapelone, and runs came home on an Austin Coleman sac fly, an error, and a Ricardo Moran double. The Cougars led 4-3 at the end of the rally. But SDC was quick to respond, adding two runs in both the fourth and fifth innings to go up 7-4. Just as it looked like SDC was poised to blow the game open off the hobbled CSUSM pitching staff, Johnny Holtman was brought in. He quieted the opposing offense, throwing 2 2/3 innings of one-hit shutout ball - just what the Cougars needed to make a comeback possible. That comeback would start in the seventh. Austin Way led off with a single, Gale was hit by a pitch, and Ponciano delivered a big two-RBI single. Chapelone then drew a walk, and a groundout moved the runners to second and third, and a wild pitch tied the game up. SDC battled back to go up 8-7 off David Julio the following inning, but the Cougar offense once again proved resilient. Louie Russo drew a one-out walk, Austin Way singled, and a balk brought in the tying run. Gale then smoked the go-ahead double down the leftfield line, and Moritz singled in an insurance run. With the lead 10-8, Auggie Richardson was called on to close out the contest. Used sparingly throughout the season's first few months, Richardson emerged as a go-to guy in the Cougar bullpen in the last couple weeks. He retired the side in order to pick up his second save, and end the 2008 season on an up note. Though Cougar baseball appears to have narrowly missed the playoffs, the squad still has plenty to be proud of. Head Coach Dennis Pugh and assistant coaches Pat Hause and Rudy Rodriguez will look to build off this season towards an even better 2009. Thank
you to everyone for following CSUSM baseball in 2008. Go
Cougars!! |