Carson, CA – On a day when six long balls left the yard, the Toros capitalized on a four-run 5th inning in game two to rebound from a disastrous fielding day in game one to come away with a split against Cal State San Bernardino, 8-6 and 7-4.  With the split, CSUDH improves to 7-14, 4-4 CCAA and CSUSB stands at 10-8, 2-5 CCAA.

In game two, each team traded single runs over the first two innings before Jason Klug hammered the first pitch he saw over the wall in left center for a two-run shot to put the Coyotes ahead 4-2.

After the Toros came up empty in the 3rd and 4th, Ryan Ayers reached base on a field choice with one out and came around to score on a Coyote fielding error a few batters later.

With one out and the bases loaded, the Coyotes made a quick pitching change, but Eric Blackwell greeted the CSUSB reliever with a blast to right field to push across two more runs for a CSUDH lead, and pitch hitter Brian Sturgis singled to third to bring home the fourth run of the inning.

Toro starter Jeff Phillips settled down after a rocky three innings to completely shut down the CSUSB offense, allowing no hits over the remaining four innings.

Overall Phillips tossed a complete-game win, allowing four runs on four hits while striking out seven batters and walking one.  At the plate Chris Hunter was 2-for-2 with a double and a walk, while Ayers and Candelario Flores each had two hits.

In the opener the Coyotes got things going with three runs in the first two innings, but the Toros fought back and took the lead after pushing across two in the 2nd and three in the 3rd.

After a quiet 4th, the Coyotes took advantage of two Toro fielding errors to score two runs on one hit, knotting the game at 5-5.

Cody Puckett stepped into the box to lead off the 5th for the Toros and drove the second pitch he saw deep to left field, hitting the back of the softball bleachers well over 400 feet from home plate to swing the lead back to the Toros.

The lead was short-lived for the Toros, however, as Johnnie Hass smacked a two-run shot in the 6th to put the Coyotes back ahead, and Chris Olsen added a solo shot in the top of the 9th as an insurance run.

Puckett was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and one RBI #while Kevin Pillar# and Flores each chipped in two hits apiece.

The Toros are next in action on Thursday, March 6, when they start a four-games series against Cal Poly Pomona in Pomona.