SAN MARCOS, Calif. – Once down by nine runs, the Cal State Cal State San Marcos baseball team (19-16, 14-12 CCAA) stormed back with a 15-14 walk-off victory in 12 innings to win the series against Cal State East Bay (16-22, 12-16 CCAA) on Sunday at Dennis A. Pugh Baseball Field.
 
TOP PERFORMERS
Garrett Teunissen – 4-for-6 | 3 R | 2 RBIs | 1 HR | 2 BB
Phoenix Sommay – 1-for-6 | 5 RBIs | 1 2B | 1 BB | 1 SF
Fisher Pyatt – 2-for-4 | 2 R | 2 RBIs | 1 HR | 1 2B | 1 HBP
Evan Scalley – 1-for-3 | 2 RBIs | 1 R | 2 HBP
Zavien Watson – 2-for-5 | 2 R | 1 BB | 1 HBP
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Garrett Teunissen squared up a 1-0 pitch and hit a two-out solo shot to left in the bottom of the first to give CSUSM a 1-0 lead.
• The Pioneers followed with a four-run second inning to go up 4-1 on an RBI groundout from Amayas Lamar, an RBI single from Dominick Najar, an RBI single by Gio Martini and an RBI single by Camron Grant while the Cougars committed two errors.
• CSUEB doubled its run total in the top of the third to 8-1 with another four-run inning on an RBI groundout from Quinn Ayres, an RBI double down the third base line by Lamar and a two-run single by Gio Martini.
• After back-to-back doubles by Ethan Rivera and Fisher Pyatt, a sacrifice fly from Phoenix Sommay allowed Rivera to score and cut the deficit to 8-2 in the bottom of the third.
• The Pioneers went up 11-2 with a three-run blast to center by Grant in the top of the fifth.
• The Cougars trimmed the Pioneers' lead to 11-5 in the bottom of the sixth as pinch hitter Evan Scalley was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded before back-to-back sacrifice flies from Hayden Tregidga and Marco Pirruccello.
• A bases-loaded RBI single to left from Scalley further cut the deficit to 11-6 in the bottom of the seventh.
• CSUSM made it an 11-8 game in the bottom of the eighth with a two-run homer from Pyatt to right.
• East Bay tacked on a couple of insurance runs in the top of the ninth with an RBI single from Grant and an RBI fielder's choice from Luke Brown to go up 13-8.
• With no outs and the bases loaded, Trey Becker brought Teunissen home with an RBI fielder's choice to short, but a bad throw to third allowed Zavien Watson to score as well and make it 13-10. Down to their final out with the bases loaded, Sommay delivered with a bases-clearing double to center to knot the game at 13-all.
• The Cougars had bases loaded with two outs again in the both 10th and 11th innings but failed to put the winning run across.
• The Pioneers plated the go-ahead run in the top of the 12th. With runners on the corners with no outs, Jacob Froess laid down a bunt, but the Cougars' throw to the plate was not in time as Danell Daniels scored to make it a 14-13 game.
• In the bottom of the 12th, a one-out RBI groundout to short with the bases loaded by Sommay scored Pirruccello to tie the game at 14-14. With the bases juiced again and two outs, Teunissen delivered the knockout blow with a single to score Jake Callahan and complete the comeback win.

 
QUICK HITS

• Cougar reliever Nolan Long (1-0) earned the victory after striking out four while allowing one earned run on a hit and a walk in 3.0 innings.
• Pioneer reliever RJ Aranda (1-1) took the loss after striking out two and allowing two earned runs on two hits, two walks and two hit-by-pitches in 1.2 innings.
• For the second time this weekend, the Cougars gave up a season-high 20 hits but still came out victorious in both games.
• This was CSUSM's first series win against CSUEB since 2019 and was just the second in program history. The Cougars improved to 9-6 when playing the Pioneers at home.
• The win gave the Cougars possession of sixth place in the CCAA standings with a .538 winning percentage while Cal State San Bernardino dropped to seventh at .536 with a loss.

 
UP NEXT
CSUSM will head to second-place (RV) Cal State Monterey Bay (25-12, 18-10 CCAA) for a four-game series beginning on Thursday at 6 p.m. in Seaside.