IRVINE – The Cal State Dominguez Hills baseball team fell victim of critical innings as the series with Concordia shifted over to Golden Eagles Field for a 9/7-inning doubleheader Saturday. Concordia used an eight-run seventh inning to take game one, 12-7, and then scored all its runs in the fifth to post a 3-1 nightcap win over Dominguez Hills.
 
The Toros fall to 1-4 after completing the first week of the season.
 
Dominguez Hills collected 16 hits on the day, 11 of them coming from game one. Eric Smelko, Friday's hero with the walkoff home run, had the only extra base hit, a leadoff double in the fifth inning of game two that eventually turned into the Toros only run.
 
But the Toros were handed more than a handful of free passes to first base, drawing eight walks in game one, including three-straight by Smelko, and then seven more in the 7-inning game two.
 
Nathan Ortiz got the starting nod in game one for his season debut, throwing 5.1 with six strikeouts and no walks, but was tagged with four runs on nine hits. Julian Diaz got the ball for game two and he made it to the fifth inning fanning four.
 
The Toros were down 3-0 after two innings into game one. They got the first run in the third without recording a hit and then three more in the fifth to take the lead. After tackling two more runs in the sixth, the Golden Eagles went through the entire lineup in the seventh to score in eight runs to take a 12-6 lead.
 
Both sides started game two scoreless until the fifth inning. After Smelko's leadoff double, Matt Mecate brought him home with a base hit to center. The lead was short lived as Concordia answered back with a three-run home run in its half of the inning.
 
The Toros return home and will step out of regional play to host New Mexico Highlands for a four-game series. Friday's opener will be a 9/7-twinbill. All three dates begin at 11 a.m.