Box Scores: Game 1 / Game 2
By Sean Leahy
BroncoAthletics.com
POMONA, Calif. - Behind the timely hitting of
Mike Santora and stellar pitching by
Kevin Bosson and
Jake Reed, the Cal Poly Pomona baseball team salvaged a doubleheader split Saturday against Sonoma State.
The Broncos' win in the later game is the first loss of the 2011 season for SSU, a squad that holds marks of 11-1 overall and 6-1 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association while ranking No. 15 in this week's Collegiate Baseball Newspaper/NCAA Division II Top 30 Poll. CPP stands at 11-6 overall and 5-6 through conference play.
The Broncos' pitching staff responded after a rough outing Friday, limiting the Seawolves Saturday to just three runs in the two games, earning a split in the process by losing 3-2 in the first game and shutting out SSU 3-0 in the second game.
Game One: SSU 3, CPP 2
Sophomore right-hander
Erick Ruvalcaba took the mound for the Broncos in game one of the doubleheader, looking to slow down SSU's offense.
The second-year pitcher would answer the call by going a strong 6.2 innings while allowing only three runs and striking out four.
The Seawolves would strike early against Ruvalcaba in the second inning by scoring two runs. Kyle Jones led off the inning with a walk and was followed by a double by Randy Wells that seemed to hug the leftfield foul line. After a sacrifice fly by Kyle Cerrudo, Garrett Schwartz would single up the middle to score Wells giving SSU a 2-0 lead. Ruvalcaba would get out of the jam by inducing a 5-4-3 double play.
The Broncos would hold SSU to just one run the rest of the game. Unfortunately for CPP, its offense wouldn't give the run support needed for the win.
The Broncos' biggest threat would come in the fourth inning. After
Jenzen Torres singled,
Tyson Edwards would then single to the rightfielder Schwartz who let the ball slip under his glove for an error, advancing the runners to second and third. CPP would then score on an RBI groundout by
Humberto Tovalin.
They would score their second run of the inning on a botched pickoff attempt by Seawolves' pitcher Kenny Arnerich that ended in Edwards being granted home plate because Arnerich had stood in the way of the basepath. This lapse of judgment tied the game up at 2-2.
The score would remain tied until the seventh inning, when two errors by third baseman Tovalin would give the Seawolves a 3-2 lead. Cerrudo led off the inning with a single for SSU and was followed by Schwartz who reached on the first error. However, Ruvalcaba got Riss to ground out into a double play, with Cerrudo advancing to third. With two outs, CPP couldn't get out of the inning unscathed as another error would score the deciding run.
Geoff Broussard would follow Ruvalcaba with 2.1 scoreless innings of relief, but would not be enough to reverse the damage, as the Broncos would fall with Ruvalcaba taking the tough-luck loss.
Game Two: CPP 3, SSU 0
Bosson would get the call for game two in hopes of earning a split and gaining some momentum going into Sunday for the series finale against the Seawolves.
The junior right-hander proved that he could still blow hitters away. He managed to strike out an impressive 10 batters in the 4.1 innings he pitched while walking just one.
“I felt really good,” Bosson said. “Everything was working, so I was just trying to throw it by them. I approached the game trying to win each at-bat and do my job.”
CPP would be the first to strike in this contest, by picking up one run in the first off of an error by third baseman Wells, allowing Santora to score.
The Broncos would add on to their 1-0 lead in the fourth when Santora would deliver a two-run single off of SSU starter Kendall Davis. Those runs were all CPP would need to take this game as the pitching would serve SSU their first loss and shutout of the season.
Reed would follow Bosson's impressive outing with one of his own. The right-hander would pitch 2.2 scoreless innings in route to his first save.
However, the Seawolves had plenty of opportunities, but failed to capitalize as they stranded 14 runners, and taking the loss despite outhitting the Broncos 9-4. SSU would stage their biggest scoring opportunity in the sixth after they managed to load the bases with two outs. Reed would get out of the pressure-packed inning by inducing a force out to second base.
“The pitching really kept us in these two ballgames,” CPP head coach
Randy Betten said. ”Our pitchers showed mental toughness. In the course of a game I feel that there are two or three jams that you need to get out off and our guys were able to minimize innings.”
The Broncos look to split the series Sunday against the Seawolves, with first pitch scheduled for 11 a.m.
