CHICO -- After shaking off the rust in yesterday's forgettable CCAA opener, Cal State Dominguez Hills regrouped to down host Chico State in the opening game of today's doubleheader, 6-3.
Deegan Grgas went deep and drove in two while closer
Julian Castro (pictured) threw the final three innings to pick up his third save of the year before the Toros returned the favor from yesterday's drubbing to take a 14-3 nightcap, bolstered by 15 hits and 3RBI apiece by
Tristan Usher,
Ben Saitz and
Zac Ragland.
The Toros improve to 10-6 overall and 2-1 in CCAA play.
After
Angel Cortez began the scoring with a solo home run in the second inning, the Wildcats answered with single runs in their next three at-bats to take a 3-1 lead. That's when Grgas made his presence felt in a big way, hammering a 2-run shot over the right field fence to knot the game at 3-all.
That's where the score remained until the seventh when the Toros struck again. After Cortez began the frame with a double to right, Saitz beat out a bunt single. Ragland followed with an RBI single and after a sacrifice but and intentional walk to the hot-hitting Grgas, CSUC induced a line drive out from
Quinn Johnson for the second out of the inning.
Usher then stepped up and after seeing a two pitches, pulled a single to right field to plate two to give CSUDH a 6-3 lead.
Those runs were plenty for Castro as the southpaw allowed just two hits in 3.0 innings of work, fanning one in the process for the save.
River Diaz De Leon earned the win with an inning of relief, his first of the year.
After the six-run effort in the opener, the Toros matched that scoring burst in the first inning of the nightcap using five hits, two RBI singles, an Usher 2-run shot and an Usher hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded.
The Wildcats replied with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning, only to see the Toros tack on three in the second and two in the third, courtesy of baseknocks by
Alex Sepulveda and Saitz, and a Ragland sacrifice fly, followed by a sac fly by Sepulveda and RBI knock by Cortez to build an 11-2 lead.
Chico added one in their third inning at-bat, only for the Toros triple that output in the fifth after a Saitz RBI single and two bases-loaded walks by Ragland and
Elijah Scott, both on full counts to complete the offensive deluge.
Will Paxton picked up his first win of the year after 5.1 innings of relief work, scattering five hits and allowing just one earned run.
Sepulveda and Cortez added three hits each with Usher and Grgas both drawing a pair of walks.
The two teams conclude the four-game series tomorrow at 12 noon, losing an extra hour of sleep after moving their clocks up one hour on Sunday at 2 am due to Daylight Saving Time.
