Los Angeles - The Pomona-Pitzer Baseball team cruised to a 9-1 win in the opener and led 4-1 late in the nightcap, but had to settle for a split with Occidental as the Tigers rallied back for a 5-4 win to salvage the final game of their three-game weekend series.

With the split, the Sagehens are now 19-7 overall and 11-4 in the SCIAC, while Occidental moves to 17-9 overall and 13-5 in league play.

Junior first baseman Simon Rosenbaum (pictured) led the Sagehens offensively by hitting 6-for-7 with four RBI on the day. Occidental earned the win in the nightcap on a successful steal of home in the eighth from Jeffrey Johnson.

The Sagehens took the first game of the series on Friday at home 9-0 on a five-hit shutout from Miles and earned another strong pitching performance from senior Jake Bruml in the opener, who allowed only four hits over seven innings, before sophomore David Gerics threw the last two to get the save.   

Sophomore center fielder Tanner Nishioka started things off in the opener with a solo homer, which was matched in the bottom half by Occidental's Jonathan Brooks for their only run of the game. The Sagehens took the lead for good on a solo homer from senior second baseman Kenny Rabin in the second, and the lead held at 2-1 until senior shortstop Sam Fox hit a solo homer in the eighth, before Rosenbaum tacked on an RBI single to make it 4-1. 

Pomona-Pitzer erased hope for an Occidental comeback with a five-run ninth, keyed by a three-run double from senior right fielder Mark Okuma. Rosenbaum added an RBI single and Bruml had a sacrifice fly. 

In the nightcap, Rosenbaum had an RBI double in the third and another in the seventh to give the Sagehens a 4-1 lead (Fox also had an RBI single in the sixth to extend his hitting streak to 16 games). Occidental scored three times in the seventh to tie it, and then Brooks led off with a single in the eighth and was pinch-ran for by Johnson after he reached second. Johnson moved up to third on a passed ball and then stole home for a 5-4 lead.

Rosenbaum walked with one out in the ninth to give the Sagehens some hope, but Bruml lined out and Scott Ericksen was able to end the game on a pop up to pick up the save.

Pomona-Pitzer returns to action next weekend for another big three-game series against Cal Lutheran, including a home doubleheader on Saturday at 11 a.m.