Box Score
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - Travis Taijeron launched an opposite field homerun in the ninth inning, lifting the Cal Poly Pomona baseball team to a dramatic 7-6 win at Cal State San Bernardino Friday.
It marked the ninth homer of the season for Taijeron, who leads the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) in that statistic.
The Broncos trailed the Coyotes by as many as four runs Friday but battled back with five runs across the final two frames. With the victory, CPP improves to 24-13 overall and 17-13 through CCAA play. CSUSB drops to 16-16 overall and 13-11 in conference action.
Geoff Broussard picked up the win for the Broncos, throwing 1.1 scoreless innings to close out the contest. The Coyotes' closer, Josh Pond, suffered the loss to fall to 0-1. Taijeron's clutch hit was the first homerun on Pond this season.
The visiting CPP squad jumped out to an early 2-0 advantage. In the third,
Mike Santora placed a bunt single down the line to score
Stephen Gonzalez. That bunt lifted Santora's hit streak to 16 games.
During the next inning,
Jordan Whitman led off with a single to the left side and advanced to second on an error on the CSUSB third baseman. That bumped Whitman's hit streak to 17 contests. The sophomore then used aggressive baserunning to score later in the frame on a sacrifice fly from
Jenzen Torres to the shortstop retreating into the outfield.
The Coyotes tacked on a score in the fifth inning and then put up five runs in the sixth. The hosts initiated that rally with five-straight singles, knocking Broncos' starting right-hander
Kevin Bosson out of the game.
CSUSB carried that 6-2 advantage into the eighth inning. Taijeron opened that inning with a double to left center and after Whitman reached on an error,
Chris Miller followed with a single. The big hit came from
Tyson Edwards, with a two-run single. That brought CPP to within a 6-5 deficit.
Moving into the top of the ninth, the Broncos played small ball to start while pushing
Allen Rodarte over to third. Rodarte worked a leadoff walk to give CPP a chance. With two outs, Taijeron belted the clutch homerun to put the Broncos in front, 7-6.
The two squads will return to action on Saturday with a doubleheader starting at 11 a.m. Senior Day ceremonies will be held prior to the start of the first game.
