POMONA, Calif. – Splitting Saturday's doubleheader at Scolinos Field, Montana State University Billings and host Cal Poly Pomona settled for a four-game series split to close out the non-conference set of games.
 
The Yellowjackets won the opening game of the doubleheader 7-3, before the Broncos ran away with the nightcap 15-1 in seven innings. MSUB closed out its season-opening road trip to California, which spanned two weeks, going 4-4. "Playing a team like Cal Poly Pomona who is one of the top in the region, it's great to walk away with a split," said MSUB head coach Derek Waddoups. "I couldn't be more proud of our guys. They showed a lot of grit and resilience, and they just continued to compete. We have had a lot of different guys in different roles step up and get the job done for us, and it is exciting to see the depth of our team both on the mound and from our position players."
 
"We played a lot of good baseball, and 4-4 was definitely a win especially on the road," said junior rightfielder Hayden Foltz. "There was a lot of good baseball played. A lot of us were pretty tired, but we were all excited. We had a lot of good arms throwing for us, all of us were hyped up to get that first win today and secure a series split."
 
Tyler Godfrey went 4-for-8 in the doubleheader, while Carson Green and Foltz had three hits apiece. Ryon Knowles led the Broncos with four RBIs – all coming in the second game. "Our guys continued to battle, and did a great job of staying in the game offensively and defensively," Waddoups said. "Tyler Elliot came out and was electric, and that's the best I have seen him. He pounded the zone and could throw any pitch in any count. He really dominated their lineup."
 
Game 1 – MSU Billings 7, Cal Poly Pomona 3
 
True freshman Jackson Betancourt earned his first collegiate win, limiting the Broncos to three runs in five innings of work. Tyler Elliott earned his first save of the year and the third of his MSUB career, silencing the Broncos with four near-perfect innings of relief in the opener.
 
The pitching tandem was backed by a Yellowjacket offense that struck early and added on with key two-run innings in the fourth, sixth, and ninth to seal the victory. "Betancourt was really impressive today," Waddoups commented on the freshman left-hander. "He pitched himself into some trouble early, but settled in and had an outstanding outing putting up a couple of zeroes."
 
Green led off the game with a double and scored when Foltz punched a base hit to center to make the score 1-0. The Broncos wrestled back command with a two-run second inning, with Luke Watson delivering a two-out, two-run double. CPP added one more in the third on a sacrifice fly by Nick Lugo, but the 'Jackets pulled back even with a response in the fourth.
 
Dominick Buso worked the count full and drew a walk to lead off the frame, and Cooper Dulich came through with an RBI-double to make the score 3-2. Mitch Winter followed with a good approach that resulted in a run-scoring ground out, evening the score at 3-3.
 
Betancourt used the momentum on his way to a shutdown bottom of the fourth, before finishing his outing by navigating through a runner on second base to keep the game at 3-3 upon his departure after the fifth. Godfrey led off the sixth with a single, and in near-identical fashion to the fourth Dulich doubled and Winter drove in a run with a ground out. Justin Lutz followed with an RBI-single, and the 'Jackets had an advantage that they never relinquished behind Elliott's dominant performance. "Situational hitting was key for us, and we had a couple of RBI-ground balls," Waddoups said. "It was a great baseball game, and they did a good job of competing against us. It was great to get a win that gave us a split against a good in-region opponent."
 
The senior right-hander retired the first eight Broncos he faced, before allowing a two-out single in the eighth. He quickly recovered with an inning-ending ground out, and slammed the door with two more strikeouts in a perfect ninth inning. "Cooper Dulich had some outstanding defensive plays in Game 1, and also had the big RBI," Waddoups said. "He is doing phenomenal things on both sides of the baseball."
 
Game 2 – Cal Poly Pomona 15, MSU Billings 1 (7 Innings)
 
The Broncos (5-3) jumped ahead immediately with a three-run bottom of the first, and led 14-1 by the end of the third in the series finale. Knowles hit a two-run home run in the second and had all four of his RBIs by the end of the third inning, as the Broncos never looked back on their way to salvaging a series split.
 
Rhys Stevens earned the win for CPP, allowing just one run on five hits with 10 strikeouts and no walks in five innings pitched. Eric Romo finished off the game with two shutout frames and just one walk allowed.
 
Connor Redmond was saddled with the loss for the 'Jackets, giving up nine runs on 10 hits in two innings pitched. Ty Wilson, Logan Fragomeni, and Matthew Houlihan finished the game for MSUB on the mound, but after the big third inning the deficit proved to big to overcome.
 
"Game 2 got away from us today," Waddoups commented on the finale.
 
THE BUZZ: Elliott was named the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Day…MSUB is now 2-2 all-time against Cal Poly Pomona after the first-ever series between the teams.
 
NEXT WEEK: The Yellowjackets face another mighty road test, as they head to No. 4 Colorado Mesa University for a four-game series. Live coverage for next weekend's games in Grand Junction, Colo., can be found online here.