While it may have been spring break across the Claremont Colleges, Pomona-Pitzer Baseball (12-7, 5-7 SCIAC) didn’t rest at all. Instead, the Sagehens played five games, winning all but one.
On Sunday, Mar. 13, the Sagehens took on Linfield College (13-8) and Ithaca College (6-7) in a small out-of-conference tournament. Against Linfield, P-P started slow, only scoring four runs with RBIs by Kevin Brice PO ’16, Cade Hulse PO ’18, Tanner Nishioka PO ’17, and Bryce Rogan PO ’18. Linfield kept the game close, but fell to the Sagehens 4-3.
It seems Linfield was only a warm up, as the Sagehens took the field and dominated against Ithaca. P-P had a big offensive second inning, scoring five runs on the Bombers. Hulse started the momentum, driving in Simon Rosenbaum PO ’16 for the first run. After the run scored, the Sagehens took advantage of a wild pitch and scored again. The runs kept coming as Adam Hinthorne PO ’18, Kevin Brice, and Kevin Jordan PZ ’17 each drove in a run.
In the fourth, Brice kept his hitting streak alive with a two-run bomb against the Bombers.
Rogan showed his offensive strength with a single in the seventh and a double in the eighth inning, driving in P-P’s last three runs of the game. Ithaca couldn’t keep up, and lost to the Sagehens 10-4 (with one unearned run).
Pomona-Pitzer next took on University of La Verne on Mar. 18 and 19 in a three-game series. In their first game, three RBIs against the Leopards from Matt Omori PZ ’18, Brice and Rogan weren’t enough to put the team in the lead. With three errors from the Sagehens, La Verne took game one 6-3.
Despite this loss, P-P came back Saturday with a vengeance. To start the game, Rogan tripled down the right-field line and drove in two runs for the Sagehens in the top of the first. The Leopards tried to respond in the bottom of the first but only took one run back, giving P-P a 2-1 lead. Both teams shut each other out until the top of the sixth inning, when the Sagehens scored again with a single by Omori that allowed Hulse to score. La Verne then only scored one unearned run, putting the Sagehens on top 3-2.
In the last game of the series, the Sagehens and the Leopards were in a constant battle. Again, P-P scored immediately due to errors by La Verne and a RBI single by Simon Rosenbaum PO ’16. La Verne took those runs back in the bottom of the first, though both runs were unearned due to throwing errors. The Sagehens kept battling, with Brice scoring in the third by a single from Rogan and RBIs from Brice and Rosenbaum in the fourth. The Leopards had a big inning in the sixth, coming within one run of the Sagehens with two hits, one run walked in, and a sac-fly. Just when it looked like P-P would take the game, Leopards player Ben White hit a solo-homerun, sending the game into extra innings.
After a long game, Pomona-Pitzer took the lead in the top of the 11th with a single from Matt Omori, scoring Cade Hulse. Rosenbaum was able to close the game on a strong note, and the Sagehens beat the Leopards 8-7.
The Sagehens play their next series on Mar. 24 and 25 against Oregon’s University of Pacific (15-9, 10-5). The team is hoping to replicate its success from last weekend and bring the same energy going forth as the SCIAC playoffs grow nearer.
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