POMONA -- Cal State L.A.'s baseball team got some outstanding pitching on Thursday in its big four-game California Collegiate Athletic Association series opener against Cal Pomona, but the Golden Eagles still endured a tough one-run defeat.

Greg Humbert and James Mendez combined to limit the Broncos to only two runs, but the Golden Eagles stranded 10 baserunners and fell to Cal Poly Pomona, 2-1, at Scolinos Field. Cal State L.A. (23-14, 18-11 CCAA) dropped its third straight game and fell two games behind the first-place Broncos (28-11, 20-9).

Humbert blanked Cal Poly Pomona for the first six innings in his latest strong start. The Broncos, though, bunched together four hits to score twice in the seventh to take the lead. In his last three starts, Humbert has allowed only six runs and given the Golden Eagles a golden opportunity to win in each one.

Mendez came on in the eighth inning and retired the Broncos without a run to give the Golden Eagles a chance for a ninth-inning rally that never materialized.

Rodrigo Martinez and Nick Osuna both had two hits each for the Golden Eagles, who picked up eight hits in the game. Dakota Hernandez was 1-for-4 with one run scored, while Jake Jelmini was 1-for--2 with one RBI.

Cal State L.A. took a 1-0 lead in the sixth inning with its only run of the game. Hernandez doubled with one out and scored on a single up the middle by Jelmini.

The Broncos tied it at 1-1 on a run-scoring double by Kelley and the Golden Eagles got an outstanding defensive play to keep the game tied. Right-fielder Trent Zaks threw Kelley out at home trying to score on a single by Nick Cooksey. But Cooksey took second on the throw home and later scored on a single by Michael Zidek.

After Cal Poly Pomona took its 2-1 lead, the Golden Eagles put two on in the eighth inning after walks to Jelmini and pinch-hitter Josh Guerra. Reliever Austin Boyle came on for the Broncos and retired all four batters he faced to save the win for starter Chris Powell.

Trent Zaks and Jesus Cuevas also had hits for the Golden Eagles.

Cal State L.A. will continue its series against Cal Poly Pomona with a game in Pomona on Friday at 3 p.m. The series will conclude with a doubleheader at Cal State L.A.'s Reeder Field on Saturday at 11 a.m.