SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The California State University San Bernardino baseball team stayed hot by opening the NCAA West Regional with a 6-4 win over Cal Poly Pomona Thursday at Carroll B. Land Stadium.
With the win, the Coyotes earn their fifth consecutive game in the postseason and improve to 28-25 overall on the season.
Cal Poly Pomona struck first in the bottom of the first inning with a single run, but the Coyotes had their answer in the top of the third inning. With runners on first and second, freshman Tyson Pettingill (Overton, Nev.) turned around a 2-2 fastball, lining a three-run homer over the wall in right for a 3-1 CSUSB lead.
Cal Poly Pomona responded with a three-run shot of their own in the bottom of the fourth to jump ahead 4-3, but a Keedan Nadeau (Highland, Calif.) sacrifice fly brought home redshirt senior Garret Barto (Pittsburgh, Pa.) in the top of the fifth, knotting the score back up at 4-4.
One inning later, the Coyotes took the lead for good when Barto hit a bases-loaded single on a 3-2 pitch, plating a pair of runs and putting CSUSB up 6-4.
The score was still 6-4 in the bottom of the eighth when redshirt senior Devyn Hernandez (Pasco, Wash.) got out of a bases-loaded jam with a 1-2-3 inning-ending double play, sending the game to the ninth with CSUSB still ahead by a pair.
In the bottom of the ninth, Hernandez got around a lead-off walk by inducing his second double play in as many innings, and CSUSB's fourth of the contest. One batter later, a groundout to send won the game for the Coyotes.
The win on the hill went to senior Kailer Saunders (Boise, Idaho), who turned in his second strong start against Cal Poly Pomona of the postseason. He allowed three earned runs on four hits with two strikeouts to earn his ninth win of the season.
Hernandez threw two shutout innings to earn the save, allowing just one hit with one strikeout.
Offensively, Pettingill and senior Benji Solano (Chula Vista, Calif.) each recorded a pair of hits in the victory to pace CSUSB. Senior Dom Dominguez (Victorville, Calif.) also reached base four times, with a hit and three walks.
The Coyotes are now guaranteed to be at Point Loma throughout the weekend. They will be back in action Friday at noon against the host Sea Lions.
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