By Christian Flores
Staff Writer
After 14 games, the CSUDH baseball team stands with a record of 5-9, including dropping three games of two four-game series the past two weeks.
On Feb. 22 and Feb. 24, the Toros opened conference play against UC San Diego. While the Toros dropped the first two in San Diego, they split the next two at home.
The first game was a pitching duel between Toros pitcher Rigo Fernandez, who struck out nine batters, and Tritons pitcher Mitch Hickey. The Toros took a 2-1 lead thanks to a two-run blast by Estaban Ortega, but some fielding miscues gave the Tritons the win in extra innings..
Game two was forgettable, as the Toros surrendered 14 runs in the first four innings of a 14-3 loss.
The Toros managed seven runs in game three but again came out the losing end, dropping it 10-7. The final game of the series came down to the wire as CSUDH escaped with a 5-4 win thanks to an RBI sacrifice fly by Justin Morris that was enough to bring a run and secure the victory.
The Toros continued conference play this past weekend with a four-game series against Cal State San Marcos.
In their sole win of the series, Fernandez once again had a great outing, striking out nine in only five innings. However, after exploding to a 10-0 start, the Toros pitching staff surrendered nine runs in the last two innings. Fortunately, the bats were on fire, as the Toros notched 17 runs on 17 hits.
The other three games against Cal State San Marcos were competitive, as the Toros led in two, and were tied in the fourth in the third. But they wound dropping the contests 7-4, 12-10 and 4-2.
While the team cumulative earned run average of 6.71 points to some issues on the mound, the Toros have hit at a brisk clip. Freshmen Justin Morris and Jordan James have contributed in their first year as Toros, with James tallying six RBI’s and hitting .312 against the Cougars, while Morris went 5 for 8. Morris leads the team with a .353 batting average, followed by junior Kai Gomez (.333), and senior Daryl Donerson and junior Dalton Duarte.
Duarte has been the main power supply, as he leads the team with five home runs, including his first multi-homer game of the season against the Cougars. His 11 RBI’s are one more than Ortega’s 10.
The Toros continue conference play as they will play Cal State San Bernardino in a four-game series with a similar format as the past two series, that will have each team host two games. The series begins Thursday, March 8th with the Toros hosting the first two games.
Currently, the Toros are 5-9 overall, and 2-6 in conference action. But there is still plenty of time to position themselves in the race for the playoffs, as 36 games remain.
