Rollercoaster Season Continues for Baseball: Defeats Top Team, Falls to Nor. Cal. Rival
By Joe Gill
Staff Writer

The Pomona-Pitzer Baseball team capped an undefeated spring break with a 4-1 win over defending Division III national champions, Eastern Connecticut. In a discouraging turn last weekend, however, the Sagehens gave up three in a row to regional foe Cal State Hayward. This dropped Pomona-Pitzer to 16-7 overall, with a 6-3 record in SCIAC.

The Sagehens were swept in a difficult 3-game series against visiting Cal State Hayward during March 27-29. In the first game, Pomona-Pitzer dominated the early innings. Fueled by the hitting of Brad Carmody '03 and Felipe Aguilar '05, the Hens amassed a seemingly insurmountable lead of 9-1 by the sixth inning. Cal State Hayward would not quit though, and a surprising rally yielded 5 runs in the sixth and seventh to cut Pomona-Pitzer's lead to just three. In the ninth inning, leading 9-6, the Sagehens sent in closing pitcher Alex Smith '03 to seal the deal. Unfortunately, after a few walks, the Pioneers caught fire and connected again and again for RBI singles and doubles. Putting up a total of seven runs in the top of the ninth, the Pioneers took their first lead of the game. After a shocked Pomona-Pitzer squad failed to recover in the bottom of the ninth, the game ended with Hayward on top, 13-9.

"It was a tough outing, and the series basically went downhill from there," remarked head coach Frank Pericolosi, "That's baseball. You don't like it to happen, but sometimes it does and you just have to deal with it. In this case, it set the tone for the series and gave them the confidence to go out and play aggressive."

In game two, the demoralized Sagehens couldn't stop Hayward's batting onslaught. Despite a homerun by Aguilar in the fifth, by the eighth inning the Pioneers led by a score of 9-1. After Tyler Burr '05 scored on a wild pitch, Aguilar contributed his second RBI of the game with a single up the middle, scoring Rob Ruiz '03. The Pioneers responded by beaning Jase Turner '05. With the bases loaded, Bobby Boeche '03 failed to convert, striking out to end the inning. Following another Hayward run in the top of the ninth, another Pomona-Pitzer rally fell short, ending the game at 10-3.

The last game of the series resembled the first two as Hayward again managed to score in the double digits, tallying up a total of thirteen runs. In the fifth inning, the score was 2-2 after Marc Mason '06's tying sacrifice fly RBI in the fourth. Hayward then displayed some offensive fireworks, hitting single after single to blow open the game with a seven-run fifth. The Hen's twelve hits on the day were not enough: they left ten runners on base for a final score of 13-4.

Although Hayward is not in SCIAC, the losses did hurt Pomona-Pitzer's chances of securing an at-large bid for a national playoff spot. This bid goes out to the regional team that has the best record against the hardest opponents. "Either Chapman or Hayward will probably get that spot. Basically now the only way we can make nationals is to win conference," commented Pericolosi.

On March 22, Pomona-Pitzer beat both UW-LaCrosse and Eastern Connecticut. Against LaCrosse, the Hens won by a score of 9-5, capitalizing on a four-run sixth inning. Aguilar had a big day, getting three hits and three RBIs, while Carmody went two for five with five RBIs. Jeff Lamb '04 got the win for the Hens, allowing two earned runs and striking out four.

In the second game of the day, the Hens defeated Eastern Connecticut by the score of 4-1. Turner and Sam Whitehead '05 each had two hits. Pomona-Pitzer's pitching, however, was the most notable aspect of the game. Mike Renery '03 got the win, allowing just three hits and one earned run while striking out eight batters; Smith provided perfect relief. "It was a big win, we had some good pitching from Renery and Smith," reflected Pericolosi.

Today the Sagehens face cross-campus rivals CMS at their field at 2:30 pm. Tomorrow Pomona-Pitzer will battle the Stags in a home field double-header starting at 11 am. With slugger Jose Cortez '03 expected to return from injury, the Hens are hoping to bounce back from their losses. "Absolutely, we are going to rebound," replied Pericolosi, "You have to be able to be ready to play your rivals. We will go in with confidence, play our baseball, and go on all cylinders for those games."