IRVINE, Calif. – The CUI baseball team split Saturday's doubleheader against the Toros, recording nine extra base hits on the day. With the doubleheader split, the Eagles are now 5-2-1 on the season and look to break even against CSUDH in the series finale on Sunday in Carson, Calif.
Game 1: CUI 10, CSUDH 4
The matinee game featured one of CUI's cleanest games of the season, including strong pitching, timely hitting, and efficient defense.
On the mound, starting pitcher
Mason Metcalfe turned in a quality start for the Eagles. The redshirt junior threw 7.0 innings, only surrendering two earned runs while striking out seven on 99 pitches. Metcalfe earned the win, his first of the season and as an Eagle.
Nicholas Fay and
Colton Bulger relieved Metcalfe in the final two innings to close out the game. Bulger allowed zero hits and zero runs in 1.1 innings of work, maintaining his season ERA at 0.00.
Extra base hits helped propel the Eagle offense. On the first pitch of the bottom of the first inning,
Tristan Hanoian roped a ball to deep left center field for his first home run of the season to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead.
After a home run gave CSUDH the lead in the top of the third inning, CUI evened out the score when
Nathan Benefeito scored on an error by the right fielder. Later in the bottom of the fourth inning, junior
Shane Wallace doubled down the right field line to score
Calvin Schonebaum from second base giving the Eagles a 3-2 lead, one that they would hang on to for the remainder of the game.
One inning later,
Jackson Collins hit a rocket straight into the netting beyond the right field fence for his first home run of the season. Ironically, that was not Collins' first home run at Eagles Field. Having played four seasons at PacWest rival Biola, Collins hit three home runs against the Eagles in 2019 and one in 2021, making Saturday's homer his fifth on CUI's campus.
The Eagles would tack on five more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning off the bats of Collins and
Bodie Parker, both being 2-RBI singles to right field. The final run would come in the bottom of the eighth when Collins scored his third run of the game, this time on a balk by the Toro pitcher.
Game 2: CUI 3, CSUDH 4 (7 innings)
The second game of doubleheader was a nail biter, with CSUDH ultimately coming from behind for the win.
Starting pitcher
Riley O'Sullivan and reliever
Carpenter Pagett both turned in solid outings on the mound, allowing just one earned run in the game and striking out a combined seven batters.
The Green & Gold bats collected six hits in the game, four of them being extra base hits. Collins got the Eagles on the board with a double down the right field line in the bottom of the first inning to score
Michael Dixon.
The next inning, Schonebaum hit his first home run of the season on a ball that was smoked to right field, giving the Eagles a 2-0 lead. CSUDH responded with a sac fly in the top of the fourth inning, followed by another run in the top of the fifth inning on a passed ball to even the score at 2-2.
Benefeito came up clutch for CUI in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI single to left field to score Hanoian and give the Eagles a late lead.
However, the Toros were able to pull off an impressive comeback in the top of the seventh inning by scoring two runs on a bases loaded error by the right fielder. They would then retire the side in order to close out the game for a final score of 4-3.
Eagles close out the series against Dominguez Hills on Sunday, Feb. 13
th, at Toro Field in Carson, Calif.
Click HERE for the 2022 Baseball Schedule
