CLAREMONT, Calif. – The diamond of Alumni Field on the campus of Pomona-Pitzer was the site for a pair of close games today as the home squad hung on for 3-2 and 5-3 victories over the Occidental College Tigers in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play today.
Stephen Hilliard collected five hits with a walk in the double-header.
Game one saw a pair of solo homeruns and a trio of unearned runs and unfortunately for the Tigers, it was the Sagehens who finished on top.
Trailing 1-0 after a Nicholas Frederick solo homerun in the second, Hilliard, the Tigers senior designated hitter answered with a solo shot of his own, knotting the game at 1-1.
Three hits off Oxy starter Cory Popham (1-4) and an Oxy error allowed two Sagehens' to cross the plate in the sixth to take a 3-1 lead.
Occidental struck back with a run of their own when Anthony Salsedo scored after doubling to left field to lead off the eighth. Hilliard connected for his second hit of the day, sending Salsedo to second before he scored on a PP error. Jacob Lee pinch ran for Hilliard and promptly stole second, but was caught as the back end of an inning ending double-play extinguishing the Tigers' threat.
Popham would last 6.1 innings, striking out four before handing the ball over to Mitch Margolis who shut down Pomona-Pitzer over the final 1.2, surrendering just two hits.
Stuart Gano earned the victory, his second of the spring, while Collin Majev recorded the save.
In game two, PP jumped out to a 3-0 first inning lead as starting pitcher Alec Strain struggled to find the strike zone. The Sagehens tagged Strain for a fourth run in the second, forcing the rookie out of the game with his first loss of the season.
The Tigers would cut the deficit in half with a pair in the third. John Ugai walked and moved to second when Logan Allen was hit by a pitch. A single by left fielder Kevin Ozaki would load the bases for Salsedo who lifted a sacrifice fly to left. An error allowed Allen to tag the plate safely for two runs. Ozaki stole second and Hilliard drew a walk but a fly ball ended the inning.
Hilliard struck again in the sixth with another solo shot to right, leading off the inning and giving the Black and Orange their final run of the game although he would complete a perfect game at the plate with his third hit of the afternoon in his final at-bat in the seventh.
Occidental out-hit Pomona-Pitzer nine to seven in the second game, but five errors would haunt the Tigers in the loss. Travis Rooke-Ley (5-1) got the win after going 7.0 innings for the Sagehens and Majev earned his second save of the day.
Matt Malott worked 2.1 innings for the Tigers before Margolis and Brooks Belter combined for a scoreless final four innings. Belter struck out three.
Hilliard led the offensive attack with his first three-hit game of the season while Ozaki connected for a pair of hits. Allen's double in the fifth extended his hit-streak to eight games.
Occidental (8-17, 4-10 SCIAC) will travel to Arce Field on Friday, April 1 to face off with the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Stags (14-11, 8-6) at 3:00 p.m.
Article by Tracy Maple, Sports Information Director
