POMONA, Calif. - The 10th-ranked Cal Poly Pomona baseball team split a home doubleheader against San Francisco State on Saturday as the two games featured plenty of strong pitching.
Sophomore lefthander
Max Bethell went seven innings in the first contest, earning his seventh win of 2014 to take the league lead in that statistic. The Garden Grove native allowed just one earned run in Saturday's outing.
Matt Muñoz delivered what proved to be the game-winning hit, a pinch-hit RBI single in the seventh inning.
Fellow second-year pitcher
Cody Ponce almost matched Bethell's stat line exactly in game two, throwing the complete game of seven innings and giving up just one run. He was somehow outdueled by Gators' righthander Preston Tarter, who threw 5.1 scoreless innings before closer Cory Davis recorded his eighth save of the season.
With the doubleheader split, the Broncos' marks settle at 23-8 overall and 16-7 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). SFSU snapped a 12-game losing streak and now the Gators stand at 13-20 overall and 8-15 in league play.
Game 1 Box Score |
Broncos 3, Gators 2In the starting pitching matchup, Bethell was opposed by SFSU righthander Jack Veronin. The two hurlers worked quickly and effectively through most of the game. Veronin encountered some trouble in the second inning as CPP capitalized on an error charged to the Gators.
After
Joseph Eusebio placed a leadoff single through the infield, he then stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch.
Nick Cooksey reached on an error as Eusebio scored. Later in the inning,
Steven Andrade put the Broncos ahead 2-0 with an RBI single.
Despite allowing three hits and a walk in the top of the third inning, Bethell worked out of the jam with just one run across. He induced a groundball out to end the frame and leave three SFSU runners on base.
The Gators managed to tie the score 2-2 in the fifth when Carter Loud drove a sacrifice fly into centerfield. With both squads grappling for the go-ahead score, CPP manufactured a run in the bottom of the seventh.
Jason Padlo opened the inning with a double and then Andrade moved him to third with a sac bunt. Muñoz entered his first game since mid-March and lined a 2-1 pitch into rightfield, putting the Broncos in front 3-2.
After
Austin Boyle pitched a scoreless eighth inning for CPP, junior
J.J. Franklin kept the 3-2 lead intact in the ninth and collected his sixth save of the season to match the program record. Two other pitchers have recorded six saves in a single year, including Sean Hunter (2007) and Ponce (2013).
Game 2 Box Score |
Gators 1, Broncos 0The two teams encountered offensive struggles in the second game as Ponce and Tarter made quality pitches. The Broncos and Gators combined for just nine hits in the seven innings and only one of those hits went for extra bases.
The difference-making rally took place in the top of the fifth. Dalton Pizzuti singled down the leftfield line and SFSU continued to put the ball in play to eventually load the bases. Carter Loud lined a well-placed groundball into the infield and that produced a fielder's choice that scored Danny Souza. It proved to be the game's only run.
CPP had a legitimate chance to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth. With runners at first and second, Eusebio drove a single into rightfield.
David Armendariz tried to score from second but was thrown out at the plate by Loud.
That was the only hit allowed by the Gators' closer, Davis, as he recorded a 1-2-3 frame in the seventh.
