POMONA, Calif. – The 11th-ranked Cal Poly Pomona baseball team battled tough with Chico State Saturday at Scolinos Field and the two teams ended up splitting the doubleheader. CPP takes a 2-1 series lead into the Sunday finale at 11 a.m.
The Wildcats rallied for a comeback 11-10 win in the first game but the Broncos bounced back to secure a 3-1 victory in the second half of the doubleheader.
Nick Cooksey and
Michael Zidek bolstered the heart of the CPP lineup Saturday as they collected four hits apiece through the two contests. The results put the Broncos at 18-7 overall and 10-5 in conference play, while Chico sits at 10-11 and 9-9.
Game 1: Wildcats 11, Broncos 10The first game of Saturday's doubleheader featured a back-and-forth struggle between the two teams. CPP and Chico combined for 27 hits and 21 runs before the Wildcats managed to secure the comeback 11-10 win.
Trailing 10-9 heading into the top of the ninth, Chico rallied for a pair of runs against Broncos' star closer
J.J. Franklin. It marked Franklin's first loss of the 2015 season.
CPP fell behind 1-0 in the middle innings but bounced back with seven unanswered runs.
Ryan Webberley provided a bases-clearing double with two outs in the bottom of the fourth.
The Broncos put together six-consecutive hits in the fifth inning, including RBI hits from Cooksey, Zidek and
Caleb Romo. The visiting Wildcats rallied to cut the lead to 7-6 and both offenses didn't stop there, helped along by 11 walks combined between the pitching staffs.
Chico centerfielder Sean Smith proved to be the hero in the ninth, delivering the eventual game-winning hit. For the Broncos' bullpen, the best performance came from
Zach Williams as he tossed 1.1 scoreless innings.
Game 2: Broncos 3, Wildcats 1The second half of the doubleheader featured another close battle between the two conference rivals. The pitching duel was highlighted by a strong performance from
Ryan Olson, a sophomore righty from Upland.
With a complete-game seven-inning outing, Olson earned the win to remain undefeated at 4-0. Through the seven innings, he scattered five hits and didn't allow a walk.
The CPP offense struck first, scoring twice in the bottom of the third. Cooksey delivered an RBI hit with a double down the left field line and the Broncos added another run later in the inning, thanks to an error on the catcher that allowed
Kyle Garlick to race home and put CPP ahead 2-0.
Despite the Wildcats trimming the margin to 2-1, the Broncos added an insurance run in the sixth when Garlick drove in a run with an RBI single to left.
