LOS ANGELES, Calif, – It was a wild, back-and-forth offensive showdown to open the CCAA Tournament for second-seeded Cal State Dominguez Hills, but the Toros came up just a few runs shy in an 11-8 loss to third-seeded San Francisco State on Thursday afternoon at Reeder Field.

San Francisco State opened the game with a six-run first inning, putting the Toros in comeback mode early. CSUDH chipped away thanks to big swings from Noah Karliner, who homered in the fourth, and a three-run fifth capped by long balls from Trey Winget and Quinn Johnson. Johnson struck again in the seventh with a two-run single before scoring on a Karliner sacrifice fly, cutting the deficit to 11-7. The Toros plated one more in the ninth on a bases-loaded walk by Dominik Cervantes, but the rally fell just short.

Toro Stat Leaders
• Trey Winget: 2-for-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R
• Quinn Johnson: 2-for-4, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R
• Noah Karliner: 1-for-3, HR, 2 RBI, SF
• Kaleb Castro: 2-for-5
• Emilio Barrera: 1-for-2, 2 BB, 2B, 2 R
• Jacob Pfitzner: 1-for-1 off the bench
• Derek Ryan: 2.2 scoreless innings of relief

Despite the loss, the Toros (29-21) still have a shot at the title and will battle in a must-win elimination game against No. 4 seed Chico State at 7pm. The winner of that contest will go on to face top-seeded Cal State Monterey Bay May 9th at 2 p.m.