Box Score AZUSA, Calif. – Cal State Dominguez Hills held off a Cougars rally then scored two critical runs in the final inning en route to a 4-3 win on Tuesday evening.
The Toros put together the first run of the evening in the second inning when Daniel Matienzo hit an RBI single up the middle which scored Brady Conlan.
Joel Belk, earning his first start in 21 days, was solid in his first six innings of work. The senior gave-up five hits and struck out four while allowing one run before being relieved by Joe Huthsing. The Toros roughed up the senior right hander with a solo home run then a walk and single ended his stint on the mound. However, the duo of David May and Jonny Reid came out of the bullpen without allowing another run in the seventh inning.
Azusa Pacific, who came into the contest ranked 19th in the nation, struck right back in their half of the inning. Daniel Martin led off with his 11th big fly of the season down the right field line then Ryan Santana followed with a double to deep center field. Two batters later Santana crossed the plate on a Pablo O'Connor single to right field.
After Reid work a perfect eighth inning with two strikeouts, the Cougars threatened as they put runners on first and second with one out. However, Dominguez Hills worked out of the situation with a strikeout and a caught stealing.
Johnny Palmer gave the lead back to the Toros on the first pitch of his at-bat with a two-out solo home run that just cleared the right field fence in the ninth inning. The visitors gave themselves a two-run cushion when Adrian Guzman singled home Matienzo, who doubled after the Palmer long ball.
Fernando Gallegos earned the win by finishing the final 1.2 innings but not before Azusa Pacific put some drama into their final at-bat. With two-outs Blake James launched his first home run of the season into the left field but Gallegos struck out Anthony Annunziata with the bases empty to end the game.
Martin and James each went 2-for-4 with a homerun to pace the 10-hit offensive effort.
Matienzo reach base on all but one of his at-bats as he went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored to aid in the Toros winning cause.
Azusa Pacific will take the next 11 days off before resuming PacWest play with a four-game set against Holy Names on April 10.
