Box Score
MONTGOMERY, ALA -- Cal State L.A.'s baseball season saw its incredible 2007 season come to an end Wednesday in an NCAA Division II Baseball Championships semi-final game.
The Golden Eagles battled back from a 4-0 deficit to tie the game, but ultimately fell to Columbus State, 9-4, at Riverwalk Stadium. Cal State L.A. finishes its season with a 45-17-1 record, while Columbus State (51-18) advances to the national championship game.
Cal State L.A. was making its first appearance in the NCAA Division II semi-finals and only the program's second-ever trip to a national semi-final. Cal State L.A. also advanced to the semis in 1977 as a Division I program.
The Golden Eagles set a new program record for most wins in a season (45) and also claimed the NCAA West Region championship.
Cal State L.A. ran into a Columbus State team that banged out 18 hits and successfully weathered a Golden Eagle rally in the fifth inning. Cal State L.A. erased a 4-0 deficit with four runs in the fifth, but Columbus State scored five runs over the final three innings to post the victory.
Jeff Carroll had a two-run single for the Golden Eagles, while Matt Winkelman and Mike Diaz also drove in runs with singles. Cal State L.A. finished with six hits, all of them singles. Columbus State, meanwhile, had three doubles, a triple and a home run among its 18 hits.
Isaac Morales, who had a tremendous season for the Golden Eagles, pitched the first three innings and gave up a two-run first-inning home run by Brad Linton and nothing else. He gave up six hits and walked a batter over his stint.
Sean O'Leary and John Mitchell pitched two innings each with O'Leary allowing two runs and Mitchell giving up one. Manny Hernandez and Game 2 starter Kyle Owsley pitched the eighth inning and Arturo Reyes, who had saves in the Golden Eagles' two wins in the Division II "College World Series" gave up two runs in the ninth inning.
Columbus State jumped out to a 4-0 lead with Linton's two-run home run in the first and a sacrifice fly by David Brown and a run-scoring single by Trent Bianco accounting for two runs in the top of the fifth.
The Golden Eagles rebounded with a four-run rally in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game. Henry Contreras started the rally by getting hit by a pitch. Felipe Gallo drew a walk and Adam Klein followed with a single to load the bases. Carroll singled in two runs to make it 4-2 and run-scoring singles by Diaz and Winkelman tied the game.
Columbus State bunched together three hits in the seventh inning to take a 5-4 lead. The Cougars scored twice in the eighth on a double, sacrifice, sacrifice fly and a double and completed their scoring in the ninth with a single, triple and squeeze bunt.
Johnny Floyd allowed three hits and one run over two innings of relief to get the win, while Blake Norrell blanked the Golden Eagles on one hit over the final three innings to get the save.
Klein, Kurt Crowell, Contreras and Gallo scored the Golden Eagle runs on Wednesday.