SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – No. 3 seed Cal Poly Pomona erased a six-run deficit Thursday night to defeat No. 2 seed Cal State San Marcos 8-6 in an elimination game at the CCAA Baseball Tournament at Fiscalini Field.
With the victory, the Broncos advance to Saturday’s championship round, where they will face No. 5 seed Cal State San Bernardino at 1 p.m. Pomona must defeat the Coyotes twice to claim the tournament title after battling through the elimination bracket.
Both teams traded scoreless innings early as starting pitchers Anthony Cosme and Luke Higgins settled into the matchup. Cal State San Marcos threatened in the opening inning after Canon King singled and Jacob Embleton reached on a fielder’s choice, but the Broncos escaped without damage. Pomona answered with a scoring opportunity of its own in the bottom half after Julian Angulo was hit by a pitch and Sebastian Arguelles singled up the middle, though the Cougars stranded both runners.
The Cougars broke through in the third inning behind the long ball.
King opened the frame with a solo home run to right-center field to give San Marcos a 1-0 lead. Two batters later, Embleton singled before Zech Samayoa launched a two-run homer to left, extending the advantage to 3-0.
San Marcos added to its lead again in the fifth.
Max Shor singled to open the inning before King worked a walk. After Embleton reached on a fielder’s choice, Samayoa crushed his second home run of the night, a three-run shot to center field, to push the Cougars ahead 6-0.
Cal Poly Pomona responded immediately with a four-run rally in the bottom half of the inning.
Evan Nahra and Austin Duarte were both hit by pitches to start the frame before Angulo lined an RBI single to center to put the Broncos on the board. Arguelles followed with an RBI double to left-center, and Angulo later scored to trim the deficit to 6-3. After Bryan Richman was hit by a pitch, Gage Gonzales delivered an RBI single to left field to cap the rally and bring Pomona within two runs.
The Broncos completed the comeback an inning later.
Nahra opened the sixth with a walk before Duarte dropped down a bunt single. Angulo then ripped an RBI double to left-center to make it 6-5. After Arguelles was intentionally walked, Tyler Blade drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the game. Richman followed with a sacrifice fly to right field that scored Angulo and gave the Broncos their first lead of the night at 7-6.
Pomona added an insurance run in the seventh.
Duarte doubled to right-center with two outs before Jack Sanders lined an RBI single to right field to extend the lead to 8-6. Sanders later stole second, but Cougars reliever Zach Romero escaped further damage by striking out Arguelles.
The Broncos bullpen shut the door from there.
Geo Hernandez earned the win in relief after tossing three scoreless innings while allowing three hits and striking out two. Gavin Smith closed out the ninth inning for his second save of the season, striking out the side after San Marcos brought the tying run to the plate.
Samayoa led the Cougars offensively, finishing 2-for-5 with two home runs and five RBIs, while King added two hits and a solo homer. For Pomona, Angulo went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored, while Arguelles finished with two hits and an RBI. Duarte scored three runs and added a key RBI-scoring sequence during the comeback effort.
Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State San Bernardino will meet in the championship round Saturday at 1 p.m. If necessary, a winner-take-all Game 8 will begin approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of Game 7.