Box Score | POMONA, Calif. - Twice down to its last at-bat - in the ninth inning and in the 10th - the Cal Poly Pomona baseball team staged tremendous rallies in both instances before Thursday's series opener against Cal State L.A. was eventually halted due to darkness just before the game moved into the 14th inning.
The two squads resumed the game Friday afternoon and following one more scoreless inning, the Golden Eagles broke through for four runs in the top of the 15th and held on for the 9-5 victory.
Although overshadowed because of the drama in the late innings, Thursday's game started with a pitching duel between a pair of left-handed hurlers -
Max Bethell of the Broncos and Jordan Sechler of the Golden Eagles.
Senior centerfield
Jordan Whitman got CPP on the board with a leadoff solo homerun to start the fourth as he drove a 1-2 pitch over the leftfield fence.
Bethell had retired nine-straight CSULA hitters at one point but a solo homer by Scott Masik in the fifth snapped that streak and evened the score at 1-1. A freshman from Garden Grove, Bethell ended his outing with 7.2 innings while allowing two earned runs and one walk.
The Golden Eagles managed to take a 2-1 lead in the top of the eighth when Tyler Christian lined a double to the left-center gap that brought in Cody Doyle. That put the pressure on the Broncos but junior shortstop
Trevor Magno came through in the clutch, bringing back memories of his heroic hit exactly two weeks ago at Scolinos Field. This Thursday it wasn't a walk-off hit but it was a single to center that tied the score at 2-2 and moved the game to extra innings.
The visiting CSULA squad broke through for three runs in the top of the 10th, a rally that featured a two-RBI hit by Christian. Once again facing a deficit, the Broncos showed their resiliency with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning.
Whitman initiated the rally with a walk and Nicholas Cooksey later reached after being hit by a pitch. The Broncos worked the bases loaded with two outs and after a line drive from
Joseph Eusebio went through the legs of the Golden Eagles' third baseman, CPP only trailed 5-4. Sophomore catcher
Mike Philp contributed a key hit, lining a single to left that brought
Jason Padlo into score the tying run. Eusebio also tried to score on the play but the Golden Eagles threw him out at the plate to end the rally.
The bullpens on both sides settled in nicely after the 10th inning and relievers that finished up Thursday's portion of the contest,
Ryan Dunn of the Broncos and Jordan Cavazos of CSULA, put together stellar outings. Dunn tossed 3.1 innings with only two hits allowed.
The Golden Eagles' winning rally featured a go-ahead hit from Steven Luna and then Jeremy Weber broke it wide open with a two-run double to the right-center gap.
