POMONA, Calif. -- The Cal State Monterey Bay baseball team and Cal Poly Pomona clashed for an important CCAA and West Region matchup on Saturday for the beginning of a pivitol 3–game series. Pomona had the upper hand in an opening 12–2 win, but game two was much closer. The Otters led for the majority of game two but squandered the lead late in a 2-3 loss.
GAME 1 | CAL POLY POMONA 12, CAL STATE MONTEREY BAY 2The Otters got on the board in the first inning on an RBI single by
Justin Flores (Clovis West HS), scoring
Will Rosado (Clovis East HS) for a 1–0 lead early. However, Pomona came back in the fourth inning and got to CSUMB starter
Gabe Katich (San Jose / Mount Pleasant HS) plating seven runs and chasing the junior out of the game.
After seven runs in the fourth, the Broncos scored once in the fifth and the seventh and capped it off with three in the eighth against CSUMB reliever
Avery Ortiz (Stevenson Ranch, Calif. / West Ranch HS) en route to the 12–2 loss.
In addition to Flores' RBI single, pitcher
Jeffery Ahearn (Anderson HS) got a pinch hitting opportunity in the ninth and made the most of it by knocking in a run.
GAME 2 | CAL POLY POMONA 3, CAL STATE MONTEREY BAY 2Game two begin similarly with the Otters scoring first, this time by way of a Rosado 2–run home run in the third inning to take a 2–0 lead. The big fly was Rosado'sfourth of the season. CPP got a run back in the bottom of the inning to cut the Otter lead in half at 2–1.
CSUMB starter
Ryan Boydstun (La Quinta HS) looked sharp through five a two–thirds innings, allowing two runs (one earned) with five strikeouts.
Drew Kozain (Redondo Union High School) came in on relief of Boydstun and was able to get out of sixth inning, but allowed what proved to be the Broncos' winning run in the seventh inning. A combination of CPP starter Max Bethel (4–3) and closer Wyatt Shackleford (S,2) shut down the Otters handing CSUMB the 2–3 loss.
Monterey Bay falls to 21–8, 10–7 CCAA. The series finalé will take place on Sunday at 11:00 a.m.
GO OTTERS!
