Box Scores:
Game 1 /
Game 2
By Aaron Castrejon
BroncoAthletics.com
POMONA, Calif. - The Cal Poly Pomona baseball team suffered a pair of tough one-run losses Sunday to Chico State, by scores of 6-5 and 4-3, despite the Broncos showing resiliency on offense and stellar relief pitching.
CPP falls to 7-3 overall and 1-3 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. The Wildcats, ranked No. 19 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) 2011 Division II Preseason Poll, improve to 5-1 overall and 3-1 through conference play.
Game 1: CSUC 6, CPP 5
A tremendous three-run shot for the Broncos couldn't bring the hosts a victory, as the Wildcats staged a late comeback to down CPP, 6-5.
Broncos' starter Kevin Bosson struggled with his control from the onset in the first half of Sunday's doubleheader. With runners in scoring position and two outs in the first, Bosson hit a batter to load the bases. A solid single up the middle by Shane Kroker brought in two runs to give CSUC an early lead.
The Wildcats would add another run in the second inning on a Baker sacrifice fly to rightfield.
“We kind of got away from our game plan a little bit. We need to get back to that,” CPP head coach Randy Betten said. “We made a couple of mistakes defensively that ended up costing us.”
With CSUC leading 3-0, the Broncos would respond with their own offensive rally. In the bottom of the third inning, Joseph Eusebio ripped a solid single to center. Ryan Goodman would follow up with a double to leftfield to put Eusebio on third.
After that, Mike Santora hit a grounder past pitcher Nick Baker to bring in two runs. With Santora on second, an error by the shortstop allowed Jenzen Torres to reach base. Travis Taijeron then unleashed a colossal three-run shot to leftfield to help the Broncos take a 5-3 lead.
In the top of the 4th inning with a runner at third base, CSUC's Zach Steele hit a blooper to rightfield just past a diving Ryan Goodman to cut the CPP advantage to just one run. A Bosson pickoff would get Evans and ends the threat from the Wildcats.
CSUC would continue its comeback in the 7th inning. With a runner on, Bosson walked Dillon Usiak to put two on. With Jake Reed in for the Broncos, the Wildcats tied the game 5-5 on a bunt single by Kroker. CSUC bunted again to score the go-ahead run on CPP, 6-5.
The Broncos struggled to get their offense going again as Wildcats' reliever Juan Guerra would hold CPP to one base runner, courtesy of a hit batter.
“When we got behind we tried to overswing a little bit to try and get those runs back,” Betten said.
With one out in their last at-bat, the Broncos gave their home fans hope. Goodman ripped a liner to the outfield and although Cody Foster made a diving attempt, he trapped the ball. Goodman stretched the single to a sliding double to get in scoring position. Batting with two outs, Torres would ground out to third to end the game.
Game 2: CSUC 4, CPP 3
Trying to pick themselves up after a loss earlier in the day, the Broncos could not put a stop to early offensive moves by the Wildcats and lost, 4-3.
In the first inning, CSUC made quick work of the CPP offense, holding the team to two groundouts and a strikeout. In the second, a solid single by Eric Angerer initiated a Wildcats' rally. Steele drove a long double to the leftfield wall to score the game's first run.
Broncos' starting pitcher Ryan Dunn next threw a wild pitch, but quick work by catcher Mike Neff nailed Steele while attempting to advance to third on the play. After that, Joseph Eusebio pulled in a fly ball by Ben Manlove to keep CSUC from adding more runs. The Wildcats stretched their advantage to 2-0 though in the top of the fourth inning though, with a solo homerun from Justin Manci.
In the bottom of the same frame, CPP would get on the board courtesy of a long double by Jordan Whitman scoring Neff from first. After CSUC built its lead back to two runs in the top of the fifth, the Broncos rallied to knot the score at 3-3 later in that same inning.
With Jenzen Torres at second and Taijeron at first, a pitch in the dirt would allow both runners to move into scoring position. A tapper up the middle by Chris Miller would drive in both runners.
In the top of the seventh and final inning, the Wildcats continued to utilize the bunt tactic. With a runner on at first, a bunt by Mike Schultz advanced the runner to second. CPP reliever Jake Reed intentionally walked Jackson Evans to bring Adrian Bringas to the plate. Bringas lined a single over Humberto Tovalin to drive in the go-ahead run.
During the Broncos' last turn at bat, the Wildcats' closer Juan Guerra made quick work of the Broncos as CSUC took its third win for the four-game series.
“We're going to go back to what we do," Betten said. "We need to prepare and get better and then come out with a better showing next weekend."
Up next, CPP challenges Cal State Dominguez Hills in a four-game series this coming week.
