Golden Eagles Take Opener Over Chico State

Recap, photo courtesy of CAL State LA

LOS ANGELES -- Cal State LA's baseball team got a big night at the plate from Nic Bereaud and an outstanding start on the mound from Nate Adams in a big California Collegiate Athletic Association series-opening win over Chico State.

Bereaud had a three-hit night that featured a pair of home runs and Adams limited a hot-hitting Chico State team to just two earned runs over 6 1/3 innings and the Golden Eagles took the opener, 9-5, Thursday night at Reeder Field. Cal State LA (17-9, 14-7 CCAA), which has won 11 of its last 13 games, remained in a first-place tie with Cal State Monterey Bay in the conference race.

Bereaud was 3-for-4 with a double, two home runs, three runs scored and three RBI. Jordan Peabody was 3-for-5 with one run and one RBI in the leadoff spot for the Golden Eagles, while Anthony Ayala was 3-for-5 with two RBI and played some outstanding defense at shortstop.

Andre Gregory drove in a pair of runs and Jorge Garcia scored two runs for the Golden Eagles.

Dustin Miller was 3-for-5 with one run scored and one RBI for Chico State (16-13, 12-11 CCAA). Kyle Blakeman and Cameron Santos had two hits each.

Adams picked up his first win of the season in his second start with a solid start. He gave up seven hits and two earned runs while walking one and striking out six. Gabe Ramos finished up, allowing only one earned run over the final 2 2/3 innings.

Casey Costello got the start for Chico State and allowed seven hits and four earned runs over 5 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out two.

The Golden Eagles scored single runs in the first, second and fourth innings to take a 3-0 lead behind Adams. Gregory gave the Golden Eagles a 1-0 lead in the first with a run-scoring double and Cal State LA left the bases loaded. Bereaud smacked a leadoff home run in the second inning to make it 2-0 and Noe Garcia's sacrifice fly in the fourth made it 3-0.

Chico State struck for two runs in the sixth to make it 3-2, but Cal State LA responded with four runs in the bottom of the inning. Bereaud belted a two-run home run to right-centerfield to stretch the lead to 5-2 and Ayala picked up a clutch, two-out, two-run single to make it 7-2.

Peabody drove in a run in the eighth inning with a bunt single and the Golden Eagles got their final run on a bases-loaded walk by Gregory.