POMONA, Calif. – Jumping on the Montana State University Billings baseball team from the start and never looking back on Saturday afternoon at Scolinos Field, host Cal Poly Pomona cruised to a 15-8 victory to even the weekend series at 1-1.
 
The Broncos plated six runs in the bottom of the first inning, before sealing the victory with a four-run sixth inning. Although the Yellowjackets fought back, and got the deficit down to 10-8 after the top of the fifth, the visitors went scoreless over the final four frames. "I am proud of our guys and how they continued to grind after a rough start," said MSUB head coach Derek Waddoups. "At the end of the day, we gave them too many free passes, but as we limit those I like our guys against anyone. We just need to take care of what we can control."
 
The Broncos drew 10 walks and turned their patient approach into runs, while leadoff hitter John Pappas finished the game 3-for-4 with three RBIs. Ricky Nunez went 3-for-4 as well, while Jacob Lopez and Casey Slattery each had two hits and two RBIs for the hosts. Cal Poly Pomona improved its record to 4-2 with Saturday's win.
 
James Anderson led the Yellowjackets offensively, going 3-for-4 with three RBIs. Carson Green was the other MSUB player with multiple hits, including his first triple of the year. The Yellowjackets moved to 3-3 on the season with the defeat.
 
MSUB starter Matthew Houlihan couldn't make it out of the first inning, before he handed the ball off to Michael Buchanan for an extended relief outing. The MSUB newcomer limited the Broncos to five runs in his 4 2/3 innings of work, while striking out four along the way. Mike Ouwehand finished the game strong on the mound for MSUB, giving up just three hits in three shutout innings to keep his team in the game until the end. "Buchanan did a good job in his outing, giving us a chance," said Waddoups. "He competed in the zone and that is all we can ask for. Ouwehand had a solid outing in relief as well."
 
It was a bumpy start for CPP starter Zuko Tillman as well, who gave up five runs in 2 1/3 innings before giving the ball off to a corp of four relievers who finished the game. Connor Tousignant earned the win with 3 2/3 shutout innings of relief, allowing just one baserunner to cut the Yellowjackets' rally short. Mathew Orozco tossed a scoreless ninth to complete the win for the Broncos.
 
Pappas drew a full-count walk to start the game, marking the first of six straight Broncos to reach base. Nunez and Carl Lawson each had two RBIs in the disastrous first inning, as MSUB dug itself into an early hole that it never recovered from.
 
AJ Wagenmann, Cooper Dulich, and Green each had RBIs in a three-run top of the second, as MSUB responded well and cut the deficit in half. The Broncos got all three runs back in the bottom of the inning however, and managed to punch back each time the 'Jackets chipped away at the deficit.
 
An RBI-double by Anderson and an RBI-single by Dulich got MSUB close in the top of the fifth, but an inning-ending double-play thwarted the rally with the score at 10-8. Tousignant took over and after walking the first man he faced, retired 10 in-a-row over the next four innings.
 
MSUB's hopes were dashed in the bottom of the sixth which started with three walks and a single to the first four hitters. Four different Broncos had RBIs in the inning, which extended the score to 15-8 where it stayed for the rest of the afternoon.
 
MSUB left just four runners on base, while the Broncos stranded 10. Each team committed a pair of errors, while the Broncos out-hit the 'Jackets 14-7.
 
THE BUZZ: Anderson was selected as the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Day…MSUB is now 1-1 all-time against Cal Poly Pomona, after claiming a 9-4 win on Thursday night in the series opener.
 
COMING UP: The series concludes on Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader scheduled for a noon (Pacific) first pitch. Live coverage for Saturday's games will be available online here.