Box Scores: Game 1 / Game 2
SEASIDE, Calif. - The Cal Poly Pomona baseball team took part in two lopsided contests Friday, as the Broncos split a doubleheader at Cal State Monterey Bay.
In the first contest, CPP captured a 15-5 win behind a strong performance from right-handed starter
Kevin Bosson, who improved to 8-3 on the season. The Otters bounced back with a 10-2 victory in game two, as the Broncos struggled to get the offense going against CSUMB starter Aaron Appino.
Travis Taijeron continued his impressive week at the plate, going a combined 6-for-6 with three walks through Friday's games. On the series, Taijeron is 9-for-10 with seven runs scored. His homerun on Thursday brought his career total to 28, which put him in a tie for second on the CPP all-time leaderboard for that statistic.
The Broncos stand at 20-15 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association, as Friday's doubleheader split paired with Cal State San Bernardino's victory at Sonoma State pushes CPP back into fifth place in the conference standings. CSUMB holds a 15-19 CCAA mark.
Game One: CPP 15, CSUMB 5
CPP jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, as
Mike Santora,
Ryan Goodman and Taijeron opened the contest with hits. A single from
Jordan Whitman scored Goodman in the third, push the Broncos' advantage to 3-0. After the Otters managed to score once in the bottom of the third, CPP first baseman
Chris Miller launched an opposite field homerun to bring the margin back to three runs.
The biggest inning of the day for the Broncos' offense came in the sixth inning, as CPP put a seven-spot on the board. The big hits in that frame came from doubles by Miller,
Humberto Tovalin and Goodman. That put the game out of reach with the Broncos leading 11-1.
After racking up a high pitch count, Bosson exited after six innings. He threw well, scattering eight hits while striking out seven.
Casey Yokubaitis followed with two perfect innings and despite
Josh Peters and
Allen Rodarte struggling in relief during the ninth, the Broncos closed out the 15-5 result.
In the eighth inning, Whitman launched a two-run homerun over the centerfield fence. That marked his first career homerun as a Bronco.
Bosson's win total of eight in 2011 puts him in a tie for first in the CCAA with UC San Diego's Tim Shibuya. The Tritons' hurler is going up against Chico State Friday night in a pivotal conference game.
Game Two: CSUMB 10, CPP 2
The Broncos managed to pull out to a 1-0 lead in game two, thanks to a Whitman groundout that brought in Goodman after he advanced on a wild pitch.
CPP right-handed starter
Jake Reed couldn't hold off the Otters' bats though, as the CSUMB offense scored at least one run in each of the first five innings. The Otters were led by Greg Fujii, who went 6-for-8 through the two games Friday.
After being held to eight runs in the first two games of the series, CSUMB broke through for a 10-run outburst in game three.
Although the highlights for the Broncos were hard to find in the second half of Friday's doubleheader, Santora raised his hitting streak to 23 games with a single in the third inning. He finished 1-for-3 in the contest.
The final six outs featured plenty of CPP seniors. Left-handed pitcher
John Pollock silenced the CSUMB attack with a scoreless bottom of the sixth. Then in an effort to reverse the team's fortunes, head coach
Randy Betten sent in two senior pitchers - Yokubaitis and
Michael Parker - to pinch hit in the top of the seventh.
Yokubaitis lined a single up the middle in his first career at-bat, which might leave him with a 1.000 batting average to close out his Bronco career. Parker didn't fare as well, battling to a seven-pitch and full-count at-bat before striking out swinging.
Behind Taijeron's six-hit day, Miller collected five hits and Goodman added four of his own. Junior catcher
Jenzen Torres drew four walks Saturday.
The two squads will wrap up the four-game series Saturday with a single nine-inning game starting at 11 a.m.
