In a Division III faceoff on Saturday, Feb. 8, the No. 8 Pomona-Pitzer (P-P) Sagehens took down the No. 10 East Texas Baptist University (ETBU) Tigers. After a rainout on Friday afternoon extended the series to Sunday, the Sagehens bested the Tigers 2-1 on Alumni Field.
In game one, Max Brunngraber PZ ’27 received his first collegiate start and delivered 5.2 innings of two-run ball. Brunngraber allowed just six baserunners all afternoon, striking out two.
Offensively, P-P received multi-hit games from JC Ng PO ’25, Greg Pierantoni PO ’27 and Jack Gold PO ’27. Ng hit a towering home run in the third onto the roof of the Pomona College Studio Art Hall, giving the Sagehens their second run of the game. Jimmy Legg PO ’25 and Peter Savas CG ’25 each had run-batted-in (RBI) doubles as the Sagehens took game one 5-3.
Brunngraber described feeling honored to receive the opening day start in the wake of injuries to veteran pitchers Jake Hilton PO ’25 and Hannoh Seo PO ’26. The sophomore pitcher knew that as long as he gave his offense a chance, they would come through as they did in the 2024 season.
“I’m pretty confident that we have one of the best offenses in the country,” Brunngraber said. “So if we can limit the other team as a staff, we’ll be able to win a lot of games, which I think we proved.”
Brunngraber credited his pregame routine — which he said makes him “a bit of an oddball” — for his composure on the mound.
“Before, starting to warm up and everything, [for] 10 or 15 minutes, [I’m] just thinking about what situations I’ll be in, and especially those early, first couple pitches,” Brunngraber said. “Sort of visualizing and thinking through how to react to everything, and just staying poised.”
After Brunngraber’s success in game one, the Sagehens took the field about an hour later with another first-time starter, Will Polishuk PO ’28, on the mound.
In a 16-5 P-P victory, Polishuk turned in five strong innings, allowing only one earned run to go with six strikeouts. Polishuk stumbled a bit in the first two innings, issuing multiple walks in both, but quickly found his footing with back-to-back 1-2-3 innings — striking out all three batters in an inning — and only one hit allowed in his final three innings.
Polishuk admitted that he was nervous when he took the mound but soon found his confidence once in the zone, with P-P Head Coach Frank Pericolosi taking note of this.
“ETBU is a very good baseball team, and we had two first-time starters go out there and pitch very effectively, throw strikes [and] compete well,” Pericolosi said.
In addition to the debuts of Brunngraber and Polishuk, Sunday afternoon was a spectacle of the Sagehen bats. P-P scored 16 runs, courtesy of seven extra-base hits, including four home runs. 16 runs were powered by seven extra-base hits including four home runs. ETBU pitchers also hit P-P batters six times.
Cooper Berry PZ ’27 went 4-5 with two homers, a double, five RBIs and three runs scored. In his second career game, Kai Gonzaga PO ’28 hit 2-4 with his first homer and a triple to go along with two walks, three runs and three RBIs.
“We were just ready to go,” Berry said. “We’ve been working hard in preseason, and we were ready to compete against a really good team.”
After the Saturday games, Pericolosi shared his excitement over the successful start of the season.
“A lot of different guys did good things,” he said. “Getting two wins on day one of the season is great.”
While Saturday provided a view into the upside of this year’s iteration of Sagehen baseball, Sunday proved tougher when the team faced a 9-4 loss.
William Wallace PO ’27 drew the start, going three innings and allowing only one run, as P-P took an early 4-1 lead. However, in the seventh inning, the Sagehens collapsed, allowing the Tigers to rally for five runs to take a 7-4 lead. P-P went scoreless for the last five innings at the hands of pitcher Jackson Jones of ETBU.
“On the mound, we issued too many free passes, walks, hit by pitch [and] put ourselves in some bad situations,” Pericolosi said. “We didn’t play our best. So I think that the outcome is what it should have been, based on how we played.”
Despite the loss on Sunday, the Sagehens came away with a series victory against a top-10 team, claiming a 2-1 record on the season. P-P will continue its season against Pacific Lutheran on Friday, Feb. 14, at Alumni Field.
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