Carson, CA — Cal State Dominguez Hills withstood a furious UC San Diego rally to take a 14-9 nightcap win after committing four errors which led to a 10-6 loss in the baseball opener on a picture perfect Saturday afternoon at Toro Field. With the split, CSUDH moves to 9-24-1, 5-15 CCAA while UCSD now stands at 24-12, 14-6 CCAA.

In the nightcap, the Toros strung together three 1st inning hits for the game's first run, before Chris Hunter (Vallejo, CA/Vallejo HS) blasted UCSD starter Todd Gimenez's 2-2 offering over the left field wall for a quick 4-0 lead.

CSUDH made it 6-0 one inning later on a double-play grounder that scored Martin Conde
(Los Angeles, CA/Fremont HS), and a towering home run by Cody Puckett (Apple Valley, CA/Hesperia HS) that hit the top of the extended fence in dead center, and 8-0 in the 3rd on a Dustin Hicks (Lake Forest, CA/Creighton College) sacrifice fly and Conde RBI single.

Toro starter Clay Young (Pasadena, CA/Glendale College) was magnificent in the early going, fanning eight Tritons overall including a string of five-consecutive in between the first two innings to pick up the win in his four-inning stint (2-1). At one point, the 6'5” lefty retired eight-consecutive Tritons, losing his shutout in the 4th as a Matt Lawson double and Garrett Imeson single accounted for UCSD's first run, after which a wild pitch and a fielding error gave the Tritons two more runs in the frame.

CSUDH, however, answered with three runs in both the 4th and 5th innings to push its lead to 14-4 as all starters knocked at least one hit in the nightcap while the Toros connected for 16 hits and survived a 5-run Triton 7th in the eventual 14-9 win.

Game one's starters were embroiled in a pitcher's duel as CSUDH's Gus Hernandez (Lynwood, CA/Lynwood HS) and UCSD's Daniel Simmons allowed just one run apiece over the first four innings of play.

The Tritons got on the board first as David Morehead jumped on a 2-2 hanger from Hernandez to lead off the 2nd inning, and deposited it over the left field wall for an early 1-0 lead.

Triton starter Simmons was effective early, retiring the first nine batters he faced before Mateo Marquez (Biggs, CA/CSULA) greeted him with a triple off the center field wall to begin the 4th inning. After Houston Hernandez (La Mirada, CA/St. Paul HS) was plunked, Puckett stepped in a banged a double to left field, knotting the game at 1-1.

That's where the game remained until the 5th when Matt Magallon (Glendale, CA/Bellarmine-Jefferson HS) reached base after being hit, and Conde executed a perfect run and hit by slapping a single to right field, moving Magallon to 3B. Marquez stepped up and was hit as well, loading the bases for H. Hernandez, whose ensuing RBI single not only gave the Toros a 2-1 lead, but also brought in UCSD relief pitcher Eric Abraham from the Triton bullpen.

Abraham induced Puckett to hit into an infield fly, but UCSD 2B Garrett Imeson lost the ball in the sun, allowing Marquez to score from third for the final run of the inning.

After UCSD answered with four unearned runs in the 7th, the Toros pushed a run across in their 7th-inning at-bat, only to have the Tritons strike for two in the 8th and three in the 9th, with two coming on a 2-run bomb from Chris Franco, to put the game away.

G. Hernandez took the hard luck loss, tossing 6.2 innings and allowing just one earned run in falling to 2-4, while reliever Abraham picked up his first win of the year (1-0), and Derek Barham earned his 4th save of 2007 for entering in the 9th with the bases loaded and none out.

The Toros continue CCAA Conference action next week as they host Cal Poly Pomona for single games on Thursday, April 5 and Friday, April 6, with first pitches scheduled for 2:00 pm on Toro Field.