SAGEHENS RIDE BIG FIRST INNING TO 15-7 WIN OVER ITHACA

Claremont, Calif. - Tanner Nishioka started an eight-run first inning with a single and ended it with a grand slam to lead the Pomona-Pitzer Baseball team to a 15-7 win over No. 6 Ithaca on Monday afternoon at Alumni Field.

Nishioka (pictured hitting the grand slam) ended the day 4-for-5 with four runs scored and four RBI for the Sagehens, who improve to 6-12 overall on the season. Ithaca slips to 2-3, after also falling to La Verne on Whittier on Sunday at the start of its week-long California trip.

Nishioka led off the bottom of the first with a single, and came home on an RBI single from sophomore right fielder Simon Rosenbaum. After a walk to E.J. Lopez loaded the bases, senior left fielder Coleman Lukas hit a two-run single to make the score 3-0. Junior designated hitter Kenny Rabin walked with the bases loaded to push the lead to 4-0, and Nishioka cleared the bases with a shot over the left field fence to make the score 8-0.

Ithaca clawed back to within 8-4 in the third after a bases loaded hit by pitch and two walks, but relievers Jake Dorfman and Mark Okuma quieted the Bomber bats in the middle innings. The Sagehens were then able to tack on two in the third on a Lopez RBI single and a Lukas sacrifice fly, two in the fifth after an RBI single from Jake Bruml, and one in the sixth on another RBI single from Lopez to make the score 13-4.

Bruml and Rabin added RBI singles for the Sagehens in the eighth, and Steven Glick had an inning of shutout relief in his pitching debut. Lopez was 3-for-5 with two RBI, Lukas was 2-for-4 with three RBI, Bruml was 2-for-4 with two RBI and Rosenbaum was 2-for-4 with three runs scored and an RBI for the Sagehens. Ryan Henchey was 2-for-2 with two RBI for Ithaca.

Pomona-Pitzer will be back in action this weekend for a three-game series against Chapman, beginning with a home game on Friday at 3 p.m.