Toros Baseball Tops No. 1 Golden Eagles in Opener 10-6 Before Falling in Nightcap 9-3
April 14, 2007

Complete Box Scores »»  Game 1    Game 2

Carson, CA – The Toros showed no fear in taking on the top-ranked Golden Eagles of Cal State L.A. in a CCAA twinbill Saturday afternoon, winning 10-6 in the opener to hand CSULA only its fourth loss of the season. However, CSULA regrouped and took the nightcap 9-3. With the split the Toros improve to 13-28-1, 9-19 CCAA and CSULA stands at 34-4-1, 22-2 CCAA.

The Golden Eagles got on the board first in the top of the 2nd, using a pair of doubles to score two runs, but Jerit Coleman (Long Beach, CA/Long Beach CC) answered in the bottom of the inning with his first career homerun as a Toro, knotting the game at 2-2.

The Toros captured the lead two innings later, scoring on a Golden Eagle fielding error and then on a failed pickoff attempt to first allowing the runner from third to score.

After a leadoff walk to David Leyva (Los Angeles, CA/Junipeor Serra HS) in the 3rd followed by a Mateo Marquez (Biggs, CA/Cal State L.A.) single to the gap in left center and a passed ball to put runners on the corners with no outs, Houston Hernandez (La Mirada, CA/St. Paul HS) laced an RBI single to right. However, CSULA pulled out the old hidden ball trick at second after the single for the first out of the inning.

CSULA evaporated the Toro lead with a four-run 6th inning, only to have the Toros come storming back in the bottom of the inning off CSULA knuckleball reliever Sean O’Leary, scoring three runs to retake the lead.

CSUDH continued to slap the knuckleballer around in the bottom of the 7th, pushing across two more runs to extend its lead to 10-6.

The Golden Eagles would load the bases with two outs against reliever Matt Sannes (Long Beach, CA/El Camino CC) in the top of 8th, but Matt Winkelman would fly out to right field to end the scoring threat.

Starter Gus Hernandez (Lynwood, CA/Lynwood HS) picked up his fourth win of the year while Sannes received his second save of the year.

At the plate Marquez and Scott Moore (Upland, CA/Cal State L.A.) each had three hits while Coleman and Matt Magallon (Glendale, CA/Bellarmine-Jefferson HS) drove in a pair of runs.

In the nightcap the Golden Eagles wasted no time getting on the scoreboard in the 1st on a double down the right line by Jeff Carroll, scoring Jack Roche from second.

With the bases loaded and two outs, Winkelman drove the ball just over the head of the right fielder for a bases-clearing double.

CSULA continued to keep the pressure on by reloading the bases, scoring its fifth run of the game on a wild pitch, and its sixth and seventh on a single into the gap in left center by Adam Klein in his second at-bat of the inning. Jack Roche would finish off the CSULA scoring with an RBI single.

In the bottom of the 4th Puckett ended the Golden Eagles’ shutout bid with his seventh homerun of the season to dead centerfield, just over the outstretched glove of Kurt Crowell.

The Toros tacked on a pair on runs in the bottom of the 5th, taking advantage of two errors by the Golden Eagles, but that would be as close as CSUDH would get the rest of the game in falling 9-3.

CSUDH will next be in action Friday, April 20 when they host Grand Canyon University with first pitch scheduled for 2:00 pm on Toro Field.