SoCal Roundup: Pac-12 Comeback Series Wins

While Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State and San Diego and Loyola Marymount were finishing up a pair of rivalry series, USC and UCLA were trying to win rubber matches in a pair of Pac-12 series.

Both of Los Angeles Pac-12 squads needed dramatic comebacks to get the job done. See how they did it below.

That plus all of Sunday’s Southern California college baseball action with photo galleries from the matchups at Fullerton and San Diego:

#12 Cal State Fullerton 6, Long Beach State 5

Cal State Fullerton’s bats came to life after being three-hit on Saturday. An Austin Diemer double and a two-run triple by J.D. Davis helped the Titans (13-8) score four runs in the second inning. Fullerton added runs each of the next two innings with a squeeze bunt and sacrifice fly.

Long Beach State (11-11) battled back with three runs in the fifth inning. The Dirtbags made the game interesting in the ninth inning when Nolan Meadows hit a two-run double to left-centerfield, but Davis got Alex Bishop to ground out to end the game and earn his third save.

Davis finished 2-for-3 with two RBI and a walk. A.J. Kennedy reached four times and scored twice.

Here’s CBD photographer David Cohen’s top photos from the game:

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UNLV 9, San Diego State 1

San Diego State (17-6, 5-4) dropped a big Mountain West series at UNLV (16-7, 9-3), losing 9-1 Sunday. Bryan Bonnell threw a complete game for the Rebels, allowing seven hits and one run. Tyler Adkison drove in the Aztecs’ only run.

Patrick Armstrong, Erik Van Meetren, Morgan Stotts and Johnathan Torres each had two RBI for UNLV.

USC 6, Stanford 3 (10 innings)

USC (11-10, 2-3) erased a late 3-1 deficit with a pair of runs in the eighth inning to send the game to extra innings and then scored three in the top of the 10th to take a 6-3 victory and a series win at Stanford (8-9, 1-1) for the first time since 2007.

The Trojans managed only five hits, but made them count. After being no-hit through the first five innings, Vahn Bozoian homered in the sixth inning to cut an early Stanford lead to 3-1. USC got a leadoff double from Blake Lacey in the eighth inning and even the score with a pair of sacrifice flies.

Then in the final frame, USC got a leadoff double from Jake Hernandez and a double from Jeremy Martinez to put them ahead. After a squeeze bunt plated a run, Kevin Swick knocked an RBI single — the Trojans’ first and only non-extra-base hit of the game.

Here’s the go-ahead run scoring on Martinez’s double:

Stanford brought the tying run to the plate in the 10th inning, but Kyle Davis (3 IP, 0 R) got a pair of groundouts to end the game and pick up the win. Jeff Paschke got the start over Kyle Twomey, USC’s normal Sunday starter, but it was Twomey that shined. After entering in the second inning, he pitched 5.2 scoreless innings, allowing only two hits.

#14 UCLA 8, Washington State 7 (10 innings)

UCLA (14-8, 5-1) fell behind early, came back, fell behind in extra innings and then got a walk-off winner from Ty Moore to take the series against Washington State (9-11, 3-3).

Cody Poteet allowed five runs on six hits in 2.1 innings, but the UCLA offense picked him up. Kevin Williams hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning and the Bruins scored three runs in the eighth inning, highlighted by a Christoph Bono two-run double that evened the game, 6-6.

Washington State took a 7-6 lead in the 10th inning, scoring a run off UCLA closer David Berg when pinch hitter Jason Monda singled home Ian Sagdal. But the Cougars couldn’t fully capitalize, leaving the bases loaded. It came back to bite them as the Bruins loaded the bases (1B, HBP, sac bunt, IBB) and Moore delivered a walk-off two-run single down the right field line.

Berg (3-0) picked up the victory: 3.1 IP, 4 H, ER, BB, K. Shane Zeile had four hits and a walk for UCLA. Ben Roberts led Washington State, going 3-for-5 with two doubles, a run scored and two RBI.

UC Santa Barbara 9, Wagner 2

The Gauchos (17-3) finished off a four-game sweep of 2-15 Wagner with a 9-2 thumping. Domenic Mazza struck out 10 batters in 7.2 innings and allowed just four hits and one run to pick up his second win of the year.

After having his 24-game hit streak snapped yesterday, Joey Epperson started up a new one Sunday, knocking four hits for four RBI. He also scored three runs. Andrew Calica swiped three bases.

Pepperdine 10, Santa Clara 0

The Waves (17-6, 4-2) took a sweep at Santa Clara (9-13, 0-2) with a 10-0 win. The Waves scored five in the ninth to put the game out of reach, but it really was just The Aaron Brown Show.

Brown was dominant. He pitched eight innings and combined with A.J. Puckett for a three-hit shutout. Brown struck out seven to pick up his fourth win. The junior also blasted a pair of home runs and drove in four runs to lead Pepperdine offensively.

Kert Woods reached three times for the Broncos. Austin Davison reached three times for the Waves while Devin Carter hit a pinch hit homer.

Grand Canyon 9, UC Irvine 1

UC Irvine (15-8) falls 9-1 to Grand Canyon (11-11). Coley Bruns pitched a complete game, allowing one earned run on six hits, to help the Antelopes avoid the sweep.

While Connor Spencer had UCI’s only RBI, Grand Canyon had seven different hitters drive in runs led by Brian Kraft: 2-4, R, 2B, 2 RBI.

San Diego 8, Loyola Marymount 1

Louie Lechich (4-1) produced a high-quality start (8.1 IP, 7 H, ER, BB, 4 K) to help San Diego (15-8, 4-2) snap a four-game losing streak and salvage a win against Loyola Marymount (15-8, 5-1).

Hear Lechich talk about the win and the rivalry with LMU:

San Diego and LMU traded sacrifice flies early before the Toreros jumped ahead 3-1 in the third inning on a solo homer by Josh Goossen-Brown and a bloop RBI single by Jerod Smith.

Lions’ starter Sean Buckle lasted only three innings and the bullpen couldn’t contain the Toreros strong lineup, especially after walking nine batters and hitting two more. Goosen-Brown, Andrew Daniel and Connor Joe each reached three times and drove in a run. Tanner Donnels was a perfect 3-for-3 with a walk for LMU.

San Diego head coach Rich Hill touches on snapping a losing streak and talks about Lechich’s performance and how the West Coast Conference is shaping up:

Here’s CBD photographer Shotgun Spratling’s top photos from the game:

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