POMONA, Calif. — A solid 8–inning effort by
Colton Fletcher (San Jose/Westmont HS) earned No. 13 Cal State Monterey Bay an opening game victory, but a pair of costly errors wasted another quality start by
Ethan McRae (Hanford HS/Fresno CC) in the nightcap as the Otters split a doubleheader with Cal Poly Pomona Saturday afternoon at Scolinos Field.
Fletcher and
Connor Fabing (San Benito HS) combined on a 5–hitter to win Game 1 6–2. Pomona scored a pair of unearned runs in the sixth inning of the 7–inning nightcap to win 4–2.
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Darren Kriz (Chaminade Prep/College of the Canyons) RBI single opened the scoring in the fourth inning of Game 1.
TJ Dove (Yuba City/River Valley HS) extended his hitting streak with an RBI single to highlight a 4–run ninth inning that sealed the win.
An Otter error and a balk helped Pomona score twice with just one hit in the first inning of Game 2. A Pomona error in the fifth inning helped the Otters parlay a leadoff double by
Devin Orr (Roseville HS) and a single by Dove into two runs that tied the game.
But the Otters gave it back in the sixth when a crucial throwing error helped turn a walk and a 1–out bunt single into two unearned Bronco runs. Dove singled with one out in the seventh to give the Otters hope before Pomona starter Tim Holdgrafer finished the game by striking out the final two batters.
GAME 1 WAS OVER WHEN OVER WHEN… a
Max Sanderson RBI single put the finishing touches on a 4–run Otter ninth.
GAME 2 WAS OVER WHEN OVER WHEN… Pomona starter Tim Holdgrafer fanned
Max Sanderson and
Jacob Tonascia representing the tying runs for the final outs in the seventh.
HE KEEPS ON ROLLING… TJ Dove kept his school record streak of reaching base safely alive with four hits in Saturday's doubleheader. He has reached in 37 consecutive games, or, to put it another way, in every game of his Otter career. With a ninth–inning single in the opener and three hits in the nightcap, Dove ran his hitting streak to a personal season–high 11 games.
OTTERS ALMOST ACHIEVE THE SINGULARITY… The Otters out–hit the Broncos 16–12 Saturday afternoon, with 15 of those hits being singles. All 12 hits in Game 1 were singletons. Of the four Otter hits in Game 2,
TJ Dove delivered three singles and
Devin Orr added his first double.
LEADERS OF THE RAFT… TJ Dove (4x9, RBI);
Max Sanderson (3x8, R, 2 RBI);
Devin Orr (3x7, 2B, 2 R, RBI);
Colton Fletcher (W (7–1), 8.0 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 5 K, 2 BB);
Ethan McRae (L (4–2), 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 7 H, 4 K, 5 BB).
THEY'VE GOT NEXT… The Otters conclude their 4–game set at Cal Poly Pomona with a single game Sunday starting at 11 a.m.
GO OTTERS!
