May 11, 2006

Box Score

Los Angeles, CA – It was a tough start to the CCAA Tournament for the top-seeded Cal State Dominguez Hills baseball team, as No. 4 seeded Chico State Wildcats took a 13-3 win in the first game of the tournament, hosted by Cal State L.A.

With the loss, CSUDH falls to 31-17 on the season and faces an elimination game tomorrow, while Chico improves to 37-19. The loss could be doubly bad as CSUDH currently sits in the sixth spot in the West Region, while UC San Diego is nipping at their heels in the 7th spot, with only the top six making the NCAA tournament.

Chico State got its CCAA tournament off quickly, with back-to-back singles to left by Chad Williams and Carl Fairburns. After a sacrifice bunt by Jerin Harper advanced both runners, Daniel Code followed with a sacrifice fly to left to score the first run of the tournament. Christopher Sweeney followed with the third single of the inning to drive in the Wildcats' second run of the frame.

The Wildcats kept the pressure on Toro starter Jason Garcia (South Gate, CA/LA Harbor College) in the top of the 2nd. After a leadoff walk to Jesus Luna, Trevor Weedon would lay down a sacrifice bunt that Garcia fielded, but his throw to 2nd would be too late. Small ball would continue to be the weapon of choice for Chico as Williams laid down another sacrifice bunt that Garcia would throw away, allowing both runners to score and Williams to advance all the way to third. Fairburn would follow with a double down the left field line to score the Wildcats' fifth run of the game.

Martin Conde (Los Angeles, CA/Fremont HS) would get the Toros started in the 3rd inning with a single to left center, after which Fred Medina (Santa Ana, CA/Century HS) dumped his own single to the opposite field. After Houston Hernandez (La Mirada, CA/St. Paul HS) successfully moved the runners over, Kyle Stanley (Buena Park, CA/Hawaii Pacific) followed with a groundout to the shortstop, bringing home CSUDH's first run of the game.

After Chico plated three more runs in the top of the 4th for a 10-1 lead, Medina would jumpstart the Toros one inning later, again going the other way with a double to left field. A CSUC error off Hernandez's bat would allow Medina to score and, after Stanley and Isidro Perez (South Gate, CA/LA Harbor JC) reached base, Mateo Marquez (Biggs, CA/Cal State L.A.), playing on his former home field, brought home the Toros' third run of the game with a single to left field.

That would be the extent of CSUDH's offense, however, as Chico State would add three runs over the final innings to take the first game of the CCAA Tournament, 13-3.

Chico Starter Nick Bryant would receive the win, allowing three runs on 10 hits in 6.0 innings of work, while at the plate, Williams, Fairbanks, and Luna would each record three hits in the game. For CSUDH, Garcia would receive the loss, tossing 3.0 innings allowing eight runs on 10 hits. Toros' relievers Gary Scott (Redondo Beach, CA/Redondo Union HS), Sean Sivers (San Diego, CA/San Diego City College), Gus Hernandez (Lynwood, CA/Lynwood HS), David Leyva (Los Angeles, CA/Junipero Serra HS) and Dustin Gober (Long Beach, CA/Compton College) would all pitch well out of the bullpen, allowing a combined three runs on five hits in 6.0 innings of work. Perez would be 3-for-4 in the game while Medina chipped in two hits and scored a run.

The Toros will next be in action tomorrow at 11:00 a.m., where they will face the loser of the Cal State L.A./UC San Diego contest in an elimination game, on day two of the CCAA tournament hosted by Cal State L.A