SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - The California State University San Bernardino baseball team punched its ticket to the CCAA Tournament Final on Friday by defeating Cal Poly Pomona 3-1 in a pitcher's duel in the semifinal of the CCAA Tournament.
With the win, the Coyotes are just one win away from their first CCAA Tournament title since 2002, and will have two chances to win the title on Saturday.
Neither team scored until the top of the fourth, when Cal Poly Pomona broke the ice with a solo home run over the fence in left field.
The Coyotes were struggling for the offense, but the Yotes caught Cal Poly Pomona's defense asleep at the switch in the bottom of the sixth and capitalized. With sophomore Keedan Nadeau (Highland, Calif.) on first base, sophomore Noah Betanco (San Diego, Calif.) flew out to deep left, but after the play, Nadeau caught the defense walking back to their positions and swiped second base. On the very next pitch, senior Jeremy Giesegh (Upland, Calif.) leveled the score at 1-1 with a base hit to left field.
Two innings later, the score was still tied at one apiece when the Coyotes took the lead for good. With two outs in the inning, senior Benji Solano (Chula Vista, Calif.) beat out an infield single to bring home Betanco from third to put CSUSB up 2-1. Two batters later, CSUSB added some insurance when senior Dom Dominguez (Victorville, Calif.) drew a bases loaded walk to give the game its final score of 3-1.
The story of the game for CSUSB was the starting pitcher Kailer Saunders (Boise, Idaho), who threw a complete game for his eighth victory of the season, allowing just the one earned run on seven hits with three Ks in the win.
Saturday's championship game is slated for 1 p.m. at Fiscalini Field. The Yotes will face off with the winner of the Cal State San Marcos vs. Cal Poly Pomona semifinal, which was in the fourth inning at time of press. Since both teams have already lost once, the Cougars and Broncos would both have to win twice to claim the CCAA title.
#GoYotes
