College Roundup : Dominguez Hills Snaps Cal Lutheran Win Streak

Junior left-hander Kevin O’Neill of Cal Lutheran did exactly what was expected of him Tuesday.

O’Neill held Cal State Dominguez Hills to one run through four innings before being relieved in the fifth inning of a nonconference baseball game at Cal Lutheran.

The Kingsmen bullpen was not as effective, however. The Toros pounded 15 hits off four pitchers to defeat Cal Lutheran, 10-5, and snap the Kingsmen’s five-game winning streak.

“O’Neill got us to where we wanted to be in the fifth with Dean Martinez, our ace reliever, coming in,” Cal Lutheran Coach Rich Hill said. “We just could not do it for him offensively.”

Three Toro pitchers stifled the Kingsmen, allowing only one extra-base hit--Dan Weis’ fifth-inning double. Cal Lutheran (18-8), which defeated Dominguez Hills earlier this season, had 11 hits and committed four errors.

“Our pitchers have kept us in a lot of games,” Hill said. “But they can’t do it all the time and when they can’t we have to be able to provide the offense.”

After jumping ahead, 2-0, in the first on run-scoring singles by Henry Campos and Daren Cornell, Cal Lutheran did not score again until the ninth.

Trailing, 2-1, the Toros scored four runs in the fifth on three hits and two Kingsmen errors. Dominguez Hills (10-12) added two in the sixth and three in the eighth to take a 10-2 lead into the ninth.

Campos had another run-scoring single in the ninth to key a three-run rally. Cal Lutheran had three singles and took advantage of a Toro error for three runs.

The Kingsmen loaded the bases in the seventh on two singles and a walk, but Campos flied out to thwart the rally.