STOCKTON, Calif. — This time, the Otters couldn't pull off the comeback.

For the third consecutive game, the No. 12 Cal State Monterey Bay spotted its opponent a healthy early lead as Cal Poly Pomona, playing for its postseason life, raced to an 8–1 lead through four innings in Game 5 of the CCAA Baseball Championship Tournament.

After come–from–behind victories in its previous two games, however, the Otters could pull no closer than 8–4 in an eventual 12–5 Pomona win Thursday at Banner Island Ballpark.

CSUMB (37–15 overall) took a 1–0 lead on a first inning home run by Kyle Czaplak (Pacific Grove HS), his fourth of the season. But Pomona (29–23) tied it in the second then exploded for six runs in the third to keep its NCAA Tournament hopes alive.

A 2–run homer by Max Sanderson (Foothill HS/Chabot College) pulled two runs back for the Otters in the fifth before his RBI double made it 8–4 in the seventh.  The Broncos sealed the game, however, by tacking on two runs in the home half of the seventh and two more in the eighth.
 

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THE GAME WAS OVER WHEN OVER WHEN… Jacob Bernardy's 2–run single capped a 6–run third inning that put Pomona up 7–1. The Otters never got within four runs over the balance of the game.

LOSING STREAK, WHAT'S THAT? A good omen for Otter fans heading into Friday's action is this: CSUMB has lost two consecutive games just once this season: A pair of home setbacks to Cal State San Bernardino on Feb 24–25.

WELCOME TO THE CLUB… Max Sanderson become the ninth Otter to hit a home run this season with his 2–run bomb in the fifth inning Thursday afternoon. It was Sanderson's second career homer.

OTTERS DIG THE LONG BALL… With homers by Max Sanderson and Kyle Czaplak against Cal Poly Pomona, the Otters now have 46 home runs as a team in 2018. That mark ranks No. 2 on the CSUMB single–season list, trailing only the 54 long balls hit by the 2016 squad.

DOUBLING UP… Doubles by Max Sanderson and Connor Caspersen were doubles No. 109 and 110 by the Otters this season. That ranks No. 2 on the Otter single–season list, trailing only the 118 doubles hit by first–ever CSUMB baseball team in 2006.

LEADERS OF THE RAFT… Max Sanderson (2x3, 2B, HR (1), R, 3 RBI); Kyle Czaplak (1x3, HR (4), R, RBI); Reed Oster (2x4, 2 R).

THEY'VE GOT NEXT… The Otters will play their third game of the CCAA Championship Tournament against the loser of Thursday's late game between UC San Diego and Chico State. First pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday at Banner Island Ballpark. If the Otters win that game, they would play again at 7 p.m.