BOX SCORE SEASIDE, Calif. – Third baseman
Matt Urakami's (San Jose, Calif./Branham) first collegiate home run proved to be game winner, leading the Cal State Monterey Bay baseball team to a 4-3 victory over Westmont College.
Friday's game was the season opener for both teams.
“We may not have been as sharp as I would have liked us to be, but we were able to get out of there with a win,” said CSUMB Head Coach
Walt White. “We were a hit away, a few times, from breaking open the game.
In his third at-bat, Urakami crushed the ball over the right field wall to put the Otters up 4-1 in the sixth. The Warriors answered with two runs in their next chance, scoring David Pennington's single through the right side.
The Otters took advantage of walks and errors, putting up their first two runs without recording a hit. Junior
Brian Haggett (Hollister, Calif/Sacramento State) connected for a sac fly to drive in Urakami in the first inning. In the third, junior
Jason Merjano (San Ramon, Calif/Sierra College) scored on a groundout double-play to give CSUMB a 2-0 advantage.
The Warriors first run came in the top of the fifth on Pennington's sac fly that scored Jarrett Rouse who was granted first after being hit by a pitch.
After moving to third base on a hit-and-run play with Haggett, senior
Danny Nelson (Morgan Hill, Calif./San Jose CC) scored on junior
David Garcia's (Gilroy, Calif./Mission College) single up the middle.
Senior
Aaron Appino (Rancho Cordova, Calif./Sacramento City) five innings, giving up three hits and no earned runs for the win. Senior
Harold Zosel (Pleasanton, Calif./San Jose City College) picked up the save. Westmont's Geoff Rocha took the loss after walking eight in 2.2 innings of action.
“The bottom line is we played just well enough to win and the silver lining is that playing close games early in the season will prepare us for the tough conference games later this season,” White said. “We are looking forward to getting back out here tomorrow.”
The Otters conclude their three-game series with the Warriors with a doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 4. First pitch is 11 a.m.
Cal St. Monterey Bay 4, Westmont College 3 (Feb 03, 2012 at Seaside, Calif.)
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Westmont College.... 000 010 200 - 3 7 1 (0-1)
Cal St. Monterey Bay 101 011 00X - 4 5 2 (1-0)
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Pitchers: Westmont College - ROCHA; SULLIVAN, (3); MARTIN (6) and
ROUSE; GILDEA. Cal St. Monterey Bay - APPINO; AUKER(6);
PAOLINETTI(8); ZOSEL (9) and WHITE.
Win-Aaron APPINO (1-0) Save- Harold ZOSEL (1) Loss- Geoff ROCHA (0-1) T-2:41 A-175
HR CSUMB - URAKAMI, Matt (1).
Weather: sunny slight wind
