April 20, 2006

Box Score

Carson, CA -- Freshman Cody Puckett (Apple Valley, CA/Hesperia HS) laced the first pitch he saw from Triton reliever Ryan Leake into left field to score Jason Klug (Moreno Valley, CA/San Bernardino Valley College) with the game-winner as the Toros survived a 11-10 thriller Thursday afternoon on Toro Field, taking game one of a four-game set over their southern California rivals. With the win, CSUDH's 8th in its last 10 games, the Toros improve to 21-15, 10-9 CCAA, while UCSD falls to 25-19, 14-11 CCAA.

The Toros looked to put the Tritons away early, taking a 6-3 lead into the 7th inning, courtesy of a Klug 2-run homer in the 3rd, a Fred Medina (Santa Ana, CA/Century HS) RBI single in the 4th and a balk, error and Chris Hunter (Vallejo, CA/Vallejo HS) two-bagger in the 5th. After UCSD put up a single run in its 7th-inning at-bat, CSUDH answered with four runs in their at-bat, as a Hunter triple to begin the deluge was followed by a Martin Conde (Los Angeles, CA/Fremont HS) single, a Houston Hernandez (La Mirada, CA/St. Paul HS) double, a Klug single and a Mateo Marquez (Biggs, CA/CSULA) base-knock, each bringing home a run.

UCSD, however, would rally in its next at-bat, scoring five runs to narrow the Toros lead to 10-9. In the frame, a Jonathan Erickson bases-loaded single off CSUDH starter Jason Garcia (South Gate, CA/LA Harbor College) would plate two, while a balk from Toro reliever Chris Abbott (Pasadena, CA/Pasadena HS) and an ensuing Damian Fante triple to right-center would bring home the final three runs of the frame.

The Tritons seemed to complete their comeback in the 9th as Scott Clement led off the frame with a home run to right-center to knot the contest at 10-10, but the combination of Klug and Puckett in the Toros' last at-bat gave CSUDH the last word in the series opener, giving the Toros the 11-10 win.

CSUDH lefty Medina came in from left field to pitch one inning of relief for the win (1-0), while Leake fell to 2-2 on the season after failing to preserve the 10-10 tie in the 9th. Medina, Klug and Puckett each rapped three hits for the Toros, with Klug's 3RBI and Puckett's 2RBI leading the way for the Toro run-producers. With Klug's three hits, he now has the CSUDH all-time hit streak record, having hit safely in 23-consecutive games.

The two teams face off again tomorrow afternoon as the Tritons make a return visit to Toro Field, with first pitch scheduled for a 2:00 p.m. start.