CARSON – The Cal State Dominguez Hills baseball team made opening day a heart-pounding one as
Esteban Ortega drew a walk in the ninth to force in the winning run and hand the Toros a 5-4 come-from-behind win at Toro Field Thursday afternoon.
The ninth inning was indeed a critical one as the Lancers had a chance to break a 4-run tie with the potential go-ahead run on third base.
Nick Suniga, who was came into the inning from the bullpen, stranded the runner with an inning-ending strikeout.
Daryl Donerson and
Justin Morris each had two of the Toros' nine hits.
The Toros had the lead in the first inning when the leadoff man Donerson walked for the Toros first at-bat of the season and scored on
Dalton Duarte's single to right. Donerson then got the second run in the third on a passed ball.
Rigo Fernandez had a solid start on the mound, giving up a hit and a walk in the first running and retiring the order in the second and third but ran into trouble starting in the fourth. He even struck out eight batters.
But the Lancers' began a rally in the fourth when Ryan Mota crushed a no-doubter home run into center field to come within one. The Lancers then took the lead in the fifth with a RBI double followed by a two-run homer to take a 4-2 lead.
Dominguez Hills got a run back in the sixth when Morris singled to left to bring in Ortega.
Evan Yeager got the seventh inning started with a triple to right and scored the tying run on
Jordan James' single to center.
The Toros bullpen tossed shutout innings from the fifth inning on, combining for five strikeouts.
The non-conference series shifts to Riverside with a 6 p.m. start.
