Toros Rally for 7-6 CCAA Baseball Win Over Cal State San Bernardino
April 14, 2005

Courtesy Cal State San Bernardino Sports Information Office

Complete Box Score

SAN BERNARDINO ­ Cal State Dominguez Hills rallied for four runs in the eighth inning Wednesday and reliever Ryan Owen pitched three innings of one-hit relief as the Toros defeated Cal State San Bernardino 7-6 in a California Collegiate Athletic Association baseball game at Arrowhead Credit Union Park.

The loss ended a seven-game win streak for the Coyotes and dropped them out of a tie for first place in the CCAA’s South Division. The same two teams will meet for a doubleheader at noon Saturday at Fiscalini Field.

Training 6-3, the Toros, 19-22 overall and 9-17 in the CCAA, put two runners on with one out in the eighth on back-to-back singles by Ricky Eda and Chris Martinez, forcing the Coyotes to replace starter Eric Foor with reliever Richard Raponi.

Isidro Perez singled to right to load the bases and Ian Corso scored all three runners with a double into the left field corner to tie the game. Designated hitter Matthew Hopps than plated Corso with a triple into the alley in left center for a 7-6 lead.

Raponi, who entered the game with an 0.53 earned run average in 11 previous appearances, was replaced by Derek Baker, who got the final two outs without further damage.

The Coyotes (20-12, 17-10 in the CCAA) had the tying run at third base with nobody out in the bottom of the eighth as leadoff hitter Abel Casenova reached on a two-base throwing error and advanced to third on a wild pitch. However, Casenova was tagged out at third when Martinez snagged a bouncer off Samuel Lopez Jr.’s bat close to the bag. Casanova was first ruled safe by the base umpire Phil Meyer but was overruled on appeal by home plate umpire Rich Duvall.

The Toros took a 1-0 lead in the third on an RBI single by Fred Medina.

CSUSB took the lead with two runs in the fourth off Toros starter Jason Garcia on a double by Jake Puckett, an RBI single by Billy Ermert and a double to left center by Rego Nieto Jr.

The Toros reclaimed the lead at 3-2 with two runs in the top of the sixth. One scored on a throwing error by Foor and the other on a sacrifice fly by Perez.

The Coyotes scored four in the sixth off Garcia with Casanova’s two-run single with the bases loaded the big blow. Aaron Jimenez and Michael Rossano Jr. drove in the other two runs with singles.

Owen (4-3) came on in the seventh and faced two batters over the minimum, allowing just one hit the final three innings while striking out two and issuing one walk to earn the victory. Raponi (1-2) took the loss. Medina had three of the Toros 11 hits while Mario Mancha and Ermert each had two hits for the Coyotes in their 10-hit attack.