Zachary Bern
Zachary Bern

Rallies come up short for CMS in doubleheader losses to Pomona-Pitzer

CLAREMONT, Calif. – Over the course of the marathon doubleheader against Pomona-Pitzer on Feb. 14 at Arce Field, the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps baseball team's offense scored 19 runs and churned out 28 hits. While the offense put up big numbers, CMS was unable to keep Pomona-Pitzer from sweeping the doubleheader and the three-game weekend series. Pomona-Pitzer took the first game Saturday 10-6 and then held on for a 15-13 win in the doubleheader finale, which ended up being called because of darkness in the top of the ninth inning. CMS is now 0-8 on the season and 0-3 in SCIAC while Pomona-Pitzer improved to 5-2 overall and 3-0 in SCIAC.

Pomona-Pitzer 10, CMS 6 (Game 1)
An early 2-1 lead in the second inning for CMS evaporated quickly as Pomona-Pitzer put up six runs in the top of the third inning. After a sacrifice fly and a pair of RBI singles, Pomona-Pitzer's Mark Okuma capped off the six-run inning with a three-run homer which made the score 7-2 off of CMS starting pitcher Clayton Brock (CMC).

Down 8-2 in the bottom of the seventh, CMS' offense came to life with three runs which narrowed the Pomona-Pitzer lead to 8-5. Freshman first baseman Nolan Anderson (CMC) brought home the first run of the inning with an RBI groundout. With the bases loaded and one out, senior left fielder Christian Hoxsie (CMC) was hit by a pitch which brought home a run. Two batters later, Nicholas Lillie (CMC) earned an RBI with a bases loaded walk to narrow the Pomona-Pitzer lead to 8-5.

A monster home run by freshmen outfielder Trey Smith to left-center field in the bottom of the eighth inched CMS even closer at 8-6, but the rally ended there. Smith was 3-for-3 in the game to lead CMS while three other Stags (Michael Gose, Evan Opperman and Robby Weissenfels) each had two hits.

On the mound, freshman Zachary Bern (CMC) pitched 5 2/3 innings in relief and allowed just three hits and two unearned runs while striking out four.

Box score

Pomona-Pitzer 15, CMS 13 (Game 2)

The outlook of the second game looked bleak for CMS after the first two innings as Pomona-Pitzer jumped out to an 11-0 lead with six runs and five runs in the first and second innings, respectively. CMS made things interesting however with a seven-run bottom of the fourth inning aided by an error and a passed ball. The big hit in the inning came off of the bat of Lillie who tripled to right field with the bases loaded. Freshman Alex Clemens (CMC) brought home the final run of the inning with a single to center which scored Lillie.

In the fifth inning, the teams traded runs. Down 13-8 after the top of the sixth, CMS scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth and seventh innings to get within a single run at 13-12. A two-run homer by Pomona-Pitzer's Kevin Jordan in the top of the eighth pushed the score to 15-12 and deflated CMS' hope of completing the epic rally. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Weissenfels had his second RBI single of the game, the later bringing CMS within a pair of runs at 15-13.

After the first two batters for Pomona-Pitzer in the top of the ninth inning, the umpires called the game because of darkness, giving Pomona-Pitzer the 15-13 win.

Clemens and Anderson each had three hits for CMS in the game while Smith, Opperman, Weissenfels and Lillie each tallied two.

Box score

Next on the schedule for CMS is a home game on Feb. 17 against Bates at 2:30 p.m.

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