CLAREMONT, Calif. – Linfield matched Pomona-Pitzer with 13 hits, but the Sagehens drove one more run across to beat the Wildcats 8-7 at Alumni Field on Friday afternoon.
Jake Hoskins led the Wildcats (0-1) with three hits.
Matthew Lewis,
Tyler Marr and
Wyatt Hurley each tallied two hits. Lewis totaled a game-high three RBIs off a three-run home run in the eighth inning.
Camden Oram started for the Wildcats going four and a third innings, tallying four strikeouts and giving up five runs. The Wildcats stranded nine runners on base.
Tanner DeGrazia and Nate Jakobs led the Sagehens (3-1) with three hits each. Jakobs also tallied a team-high two RBIs. Jake Hilton started for Pomona-Pitzer and went six innings, giving up three runs, striking out 11 batters and was credited with the win.
The Wildcats pounced on the Sagehens in the opening frame. Linfield totaled five hits and brought in three runs to take an early 3-0 lead. Pomona-Pitzer responded with two runs in the bottom half of the first inning paired with another run in the second to tie the game at three.
The Sagehens pulled in front with a pair of runs in the fourth inning and scored single runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. Lewis' three-run home run over the right field wall in the top half of the eighth inning brought the 'Cats within one run. In the top of the ninth inning, Hoskins got into scoring position after a double but Hurley couldn't bring him in as the Sagehens held on for the win.
ON DECK
The Wildcats return to the diamond for a doubleheader on Saturday with the first pitch scheduled for 11 a.m.
