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LOS ANGELES - The No. 3 seed San Francisco State is advancing to the double-elimination portion of the 2025 CCAA Baseball Tournament presented by FloCollege after earning an 8-7 win over No. 6 Cal State San Marcos. 

SF State jumped out to a 3-0 lead after Daniel Murillo and Justin Johnson each homered in the first inning. The Gators would extend their lead to 6-1 in the bottom of the third as Michael Cunningham, Nicholas Allred and Derek Leferriere each had run-scoring hits. 

Starting pitcher Nathan Shinn cruised through the first five innings before running into trouble in the sixth. Four of the first five batters reached base to knock Shinn out of the game. SFSU turned to Nick Bacura who did allow two runs on a single but was able to escape further damage.

CSUSM would add one more in the seventh on a two-out RBI double by Ethan Rivera. His hit brought in Trey Becker, but trail runner Fisher Pyatt was thrown out at the plate to end the inning. 

In the bottom of the eighth, SF State rallied to put runners at first and third with one out. Murillo then delivered a sac fly to bring in pinch runner Colby Rafail with the go-ahead run. Cunningham would get a two-out hit to provide an insurance run and extend the Gators’ lead to 8-6.

SF State would need both those runs to secure the victory. The Cougars rallied for a run on a RBI-single by pinch hitter Victor Castaneda. They would reload the bases with two out, but Bacura was able to get a fly ball to left to end the rally and the game.

The top three hitters in the Gators order combined to go 7-for-14 with four RBI and four runs scored. Nicholas Allred was 3-for-5 with two doubles and a triple. Murillo went 2-for-4 with a home run, two RBI and two runs scored. Cunningham had a pair of hits and also scored and knocked in a run. 

The top of the lineup also had a strong game for CSUSM. The top four hitters combined to go 9-for-18. Garrett Teunissen led the way, going 3-for-4. Phoenix Sommay, Marco Pirruccello and Zavien Watson collected two hits apiece. 

San Francisco State will advance to the double-elimination portion of the 2025 CCAA Baseball Tournament. It will face No. 2 seed Cal State Dominguez Hills on Thursday at 3 p.m.