Toros Lose Pair of One-Run Baseball Games to Cal State Stanislaus
March 22, 2003

Courtesy Cal State Stanislaus Sports Information Office

TURLOCK — Pat Blackburn pitched a complete game four-hitter in the nightcap as the Cal State Stanislaus baseball team swept Cal State Dominguez Hills (14-15, 9-13) in a California Collegiate Athletic Association doubleheader Saturday afternoon, 5-4 and 2-1.

Cody Crossman and Kyle Dennis drove in runs in the ninth inning of the opener as the Warriors rallied to beat CSU Dominguez Hills, 5-4.

John Abdelkerim went 3-for-3 with a RBI in the nightcap and Blackburn threw seven strong innings as the Warriors beat the Toros, 2-1, in game two.

An Alan Dunn double, Scott Neal triple, plus an Abdelkerim RBI single gave the Warriors a 2-0 lead through two innings — and that was enough for Blackburn.

Blackburn saw just 14 batters in the first four innings until a solo home run by CSUDH’s Ricky Eda in the fifth to pull the Toros within one at 2-1.

The Toros had a minor rally in the seventh with a runner on base with two outs, but Blackburn got Jason Flores to ground out to second to end the game.

In the opener today, Crossman doubled in Neal to tie the game in the ninth and Dennis drove in Crossman with a single to the left-center field gap as the Warriors scored twice in their final at-bat for the win.

Neal had led off the inning with a single and was moved over to second on a bunt. With two outs, Crossman drove a 1-1 pitch to deep center field, over Mike Milstead’s head to score Neal.

The Warriors had a 3-1 lead until the eighth inning when CSUDH’s Joe Gevas belted a three-run home run to take a 4-3 lead.

Cal State Stanislaus threatened in the eighth as the Warriors had runners on second and third with one out. Dominguez Hills used three pitchers in the inning to get out of the jam by getting Jeren Livernois to fouled out and Justin Reyes to fly out to left to end the inning.

Warrior starter Eric Fagan pitched eight solid innings and allowed four runs on 10 hits for the no decision. Robert Mansfield pitched the ninth and struck out the side to get the win. CSUDH starter Larry Robles struck out nine batters in seven innings. He gave up three runs on nine hits.

The same two teams will wrap-up the four-game series on Sunday with a single game beginning at Noon at Warrior Baseball Field.