LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- The Cal State Monterey Bay baseball team battled Cal State L.A. in two close games on Saturday afternoon that led to two CSUMB losses by one run, 3-4 and 4-5.

GAME 1 | CAL STATE L.A. 4, CAL STATE MONTEREY BAY 3
Game one of the three game series against the Golden Eagles was a low scoring affair. The Otters put runs up in the fifth, eighth and ninth innings but could not seal the win.

CSUMB benefited from a wild pitch in the fifth inning that allowed Ruban Gonzalez (Murrieta Mesa HS) and give the Otters a 1-0 lead. CSULA answered right back with a run in the bottom of the fifth to knot the game at 1-1. The Golden Eagles took the lead in the seventh at 2-1, but CSUMB answered that in the eighth. Justin Flores (Clovis West HS) knocked in Bryan Bostjancic (Sir Francis Drake HS) to once again tie the game at 2-2 in the late innings.

The Otters took advantage of another wild pitch in the top of the ninth that the speedy Garret Brown (Indiana University) was able to touch home on, giving CSUMB a 3-2 lead. 

CSUMB closer Kyle Narahara (Castro Valley HS) came in in the bottom of the ninth and made things difficult, loading the bases with two outs. CSULA's Garrett Dean was able to handle a 2-2 pitch and drove it into right center to bring home two runs and complete the walk off win by a score of 4-2.

CSUMB starter Gabe Katich (Mount Pleasant HS) was faced with a no decision after a fairly clean game. Katich allowed two runs (both earned) on seven hits and uncharacteristically walked three but countered that with three strikeouts as well. Narahara got the loss in the blown save.

GAME 2 | CAL STATE L.A. 5, CAL STATE MONTEREY BAY 4
Game two look similar to game one in that it was a tight contest throughout. CSUMB jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the first inning after RBI's from Flores and and A.C. Nunez (Corona, Calif. / Roosevelt HS). Flores drove in the first run with his first triple of the season and was followed by and RBI single by Nunez to get CSUMB started right.

However, the third inning belonged to the Golden Eagles as they scored four time to take a 4-2 lead after three full. CSUMB got the runs back on and Kevin Davidson (Yucaipa HS) RBI ground out in the sixth and Jeffery Amaral's (Sunnyvale / Saint Francis HS) second home run of the season to make it 4-4 after seven innings. CSULA struck in the late innings though, downing the Otters by one run in back-to-back games, 5-4. 

Steven Zaharias (Sonoma State) was tagged with the loss and is now 1-1. Monterey Bay will battle CSULA in the series finalé tomorrow at noon.