LOS ANGELES -- Cal State LA's baseball team did a lot of things right offensively on Friday night in the opener of a four-game California Collegiate Athletic Association series against Cal Poly Pomona, but defensive misplays and 10 walks were costly in the end.
The Golden Eagles scored eight runs off the conference's top starting pitcher and grinded out a game-tying run in the bottom of the ninth inning, only to see everything come completely undone in the 10th inning of a 22-9 loss to the Broncos at Reeder Field. Cal State LA (15-28, 10-23 CCAA) got the first two outs in the top of the 10th, but the Broncos scored an incredible 13 runs before the inning ended to take the series opener. Cal Poly Pomona (27-15, 22-10 CCAA) moved into a tie for second place in the conference with the win.
Mikell Chavez suffered the loss, but he was hardly to blame. After retiring the first two batters, Chavez gave up a fly ball that was misplayed into a triple in center field before inducing a pop-up into shallow left that was dropped, allowing the go-ahead run to score. It was conceivable that the first four batters of the inning could have been retired, but, instead, the inning continued and by the time the dust had cleared, the Broncos had put up 13 runs on 11 hits. Chavez allowed two hits and was charged with three unearned runs, while the other 10 runs were considered team unearned runs.
The end result overshadowed an impressive start from Cal State LA's Yuki Sakane, who allowed only three hits and one earned run over five innings. The Golden Eagles built a 6-1 lead through four innings and Sakane induced a two-out groundout with the bases loaded that should have ended the fifth inning, but it was booted allowing two runs to score.
Gerardo Castaneda picked off a runner at third base to end the inning and preserve the 6-3 lead.
Then, after Cal Poly Pomona scored five times in the top of the sixth to take an 8-6 lead,
Wilem Drozdowski belted a two-run home run to left field for his second homer of the season to tie it.
Cal Poly Pomona got a run in the seventh inning with a two-out single from Jacob Lopez to take a 9-8 lead and the Golden Eagles tied it up in the ninth with a two-out double by Castaneda and a run-scoring single by
Thomas Chavez that drove in pinch runner
Nick Penzetta.
Cesar Lopez went 3-for-5 with four runs scored and a two-run home run for the Broncos, while Jacob Lopez went 3-for-4 with four runs scored and three RBI. Johnny Pappas was 3-for-7 with three runs scored and three RBI.
Johnny Pacheco,
Will Picketts,
Drew Emmons and Castaneda had two hits each for the Golden Eagles, while
Hayden Luff had one hit and drove in three runs. Chavez and Drozdowski drove in two runs each.
It looked good for the Golden Eagles early. After the Broncos took a 1-0 lead in the first, Cal State LA scored twice in the second when Picketts doubled, took third on a single by Emmons and scored on a single by Castaneda and Luff delivered a sacrifice fly to score Emmons.
Cal State LA scored four more times in the third to take a 6-1 lead.
A.J. Salgado singled and came around to score on a double by Emmons. Chavez drove in a run with a groundout and Luff singled up the middle to drive in two more runs to give Cal State LA a five-run lead.
The series will continue with a doubleheader on Saturday at Reeder Field beginning at 1 p.m.
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