POMONA ¾ It was a long day with mixed results for Cal Poly Pomona’s baseball team.
The Broncos scored a run in the bottom of the ninth inning to post a thrilling 4-3 victory over Mesa State College in a nonconference game early Saturday, but the Broncos committed seven errors while dropping a 16-8 decision to CCAA rival UC Davis in a nonconference matchup later in the day.
The Broncos (5-2-1) had a six-game unbeaten streak snapped by the loss to UC Davis, which won its first game after three defeats.
The highlight of the Broncos’ day definitely came early. Cal Poly Pomona was locked in a 3-3 tie with Mesa State (3-4) heading into the bottom of the ninth inning. Then, Matt Lopez (Fr., Lancaster, Quartz Hills HS) was hit by a pitch to start the inning and moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Jonathan Alexander (Sr., Covina, Citrus College). Andy Gonzales followed with a run-scoring single to right-center and the Broncos had the come-from-behind win.
Cal Poly Pomona had trailed 3-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning, but tied it up on a two-run double by Jason Marcus (Sr., San Dimas, Mt. SAC).
Benny Winslow (Jr., Tucson, Az., Cuesta College) went 4-for-4 with two doubles and two runs scored to pace a nine-hit Cal Poly Pomona attack. Kevin Waldinger (Sr., Yorba Linda, Fullerton JC) gave up three runs (only one was earned) in five innings of work and the Broncos got four innings of shutout relief from Tony Ortiz (Sr., Rancho Cucamonga, Mt. SAC) and Jose Munoz (Jr., Baldwin Park, Rio Hondo JC). Munoz picked up the win to improve to 2-0.
In the Broncos’ second game of the day, against UC Davis, they were done in by mistakes and some timely UC Davis hitting. Both teams banged out 16 hits, but the Aggies took advantage of seven Bronco errors to score eight unearned runs. Jason Welch (Sr., Diamond Bar, Santa Ana JC) had three hits and two RBI for the Broncos, while Andy Gonzales had two hits and two RBI. Matt Stevens (Fr., Riverside, Rubidoux HS), Victor Yoshida (Jr., Encintas, Palomar College) and Russell Espinoza (Jr., Sacramento, Cosumnes River CC) also had two hits each for the Broncos.
UC Davis led 6-0 after three innings and, after the Broncos cut the deficit to 6-4, the Aggies scored 10 runs in their final three at bats.
Michael Granger, Mark Wells and Andrew Reisinger had three RBI each for the Aggies. Wells went 5-for-5 to highlight the 16-hit attack.
Cal Poly Pomona will open CCAA play Thursday, Feb. 14, at Cal State L.A.