Balentine and Timely Hitting Combine for Warriors’ Split of Today’s Road Doubleheader
POMONA, Calif.--- Stan State split today's road doubleheader with the Cal Poly Pomona Broncos this afternoon at Pomona's Scolinos Field falling in the opener 3-1 before taking the night cap 4-2. Austin Balentine pitched his first complete victory of the season to improve to 3-3 in the night cap. Stan State scored three of its four runs in today's game two with two-outs including two on a Ryan Leonesio double. The Warriors lost game one 3-1 despite great outings from starter Zach Geiss, and reliever, Noah Chelberg.
GAME ONE: Today's opener and game three of this weekend's four-game series was a pitching between Stan State's Zach Geiss (3-1) and the Broncos' Dylan Esquivel. The Warriors had a chance in the top of the fourth to take the lead. Arthur Navarette Jr. had a one-out single. He went to second when Alex Solis drew a two-out walk. They both advanced a base to place runners on second and third. Esquivel induced the next Warrior to ground out to end the scoring threat.
Cal Poly Pomona (12-24, 9-18 CCAA) took the 2-0 in its half of the fourth. Johnny Pappas led off the inning being hit by a pitch. He went to third on a double by Beau Betten. Pappas scored on a ground out to shortstop by Julian Angulo. The Broncos made it 2-0 on a sacrifice fly by Marco Malerba which brought in Betten.
The hosts added an insurance run in their half of the sixth. Pappas had a one-out single and scored on a two-out double by Angulo.
Stan State cut into the deficit with a run in the top of the eighth. Ryan Leonesio drew a one-out walk. He went to second on an infield single by Robert Valdivia. Jonluke Goldman walked to load the bases with Jackson Brooks pinch running for Goldman. With one out, Leonesio scored on a Navarette ground out to first for Stan State's first run of the game. Pomona's reliever, Colt Tucker, struck out the final Warrior batter of the inning to end the Stan State scoring threat.
The Warriors had another chance to tie or take the lead in their last at bat. With one out, JD Madrigal drew a walk and went to second on a two-out single by Jacob Baker. The last Warrior out of the game was thrown out trying to steal third as the Broncos took today's opener 3-1.
PITCHING DUO: Zach Geiss pitched seven innings of five-hit ball while giving up three runs, striking out three and walking one. Noah Chelberg pitched a scoreless eighth and struck out one for the visitors.
WARRIORS HITS: Stan State had four hits in the opener one each by Robert Valdivia, Arthur Navarette Jr., Danny Murphy, and Jacob Baker. Navarette drove in the Warriors' run which Leonesio scored.
GAME TWO: The Warriors took a 3-0 lead in the top of the second inning. With one out, Alex Solis and Jonluke Goldman had back-to-back singles. On the fourth pitch he saw, Ryan Leonesio gave Stan State the 2-0 lead with a two-out two-run double to left field. He scored on a single to right center by Robert Valdivia to increase the guests' lead to 3-0.
Stan State (12-19, 7-14 CCAA) added an insurance run in the top of the sixth. Goldman had a lead-off double and scored on a double to left field by Jacob Baker to give the Warriors a 4-0 lead.
Cal Poly Pomona cut the Warrior lead to 4-2 with two runs in the bottom of the sixth. Johnny Pappas had a lead-off single. He went to second on a single by Julian Angulo with one out. Pappas scored on a one-out double by Marco Malerba to cut Stan State's lead to 4-1. Angullo scored the Broncos' second run on a ground out to third by Sebastian Arguelles. Austin Balentine (3-3) induced the next Bronco to ground out to Robert Valdivia at short to preserve the 4-2 Warrior lead.
In Pomona's last inning, Clay Porter drew a two-out walk and went to second on a single by Pappas. Balentine struck out the final Bronco batter as Stan State took the night cap 4-2.
BALENTINE: Austin Balentine pitched his first complete game of the season. He gave up seven hits and two runs while striking out five and walking two. The junior right-handed pitcher is now 3-3 on the season.
TEN HITS: Stan State had ten hits in the third game of this weekend's four-game series with Cal Poly Pomona. Robert Valdivia, Flavio Perez, and Jonluke Goldman each had two hits. Goldman scored two runs with Alex Solis and Ryan Leonesio scoring the other two Stan State runs. Leonesio drove in two runs with Valdivia and Jacob Baker each driving in a run.
UP NEXT: Stan State looks for the series split in tomorrow's series finale at Cal Poly Pomona. First pitch is scheduled for noon, Sunday, April 13. The Warriors return home on Friday, April 11 when the Warriors host Sonoma State at 6:00 p.m. to begin a four-game series at Warrior Field.
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