POMONA, Calif. ?The 5th-ranked UC San Diego baseball team ran into tough pitching in a 3-1 loss to Cal Poly Pomona on Thursday afternoon on the Bronco campus. A Brandon Gregorich RBI ground out accounted for UCSD's only run. Tim Shibuya pitched well and took his second consecutive complete game loss of the season. With the loss, UCSD drops to 30-12, 24-9 California Collegiate Athletic Association, while the Broncos improve to 26-20, 16-17 CCAA. The teams return to action on Friday with a single game at Cal Poly Pomona with a 3:00 p.m. first pitch.
CPP got on the scoreboard first when junior Richard McDowell (Santa Clara) ripped a Shibuya fastball over the left-field wall for a solo home run and his fourth of the season in the second inning.
The Tritons returned the favor with one of their own in the fourth, courtesy of Brandon Gregorich's ground out to shortstop that scored Evan Kehoe, who led off the inning with a single.
But the Broncos answered right back with the deciding runs in the fourth. McDowell led off with a hit by pitch and reached second on Shibuya's first balk of the season. That seemed to rattle the Jackson, Wyo., native, who then walked senior Jeff Ringholm (Granite Bay).
That brought up junior Marcus Makia (Kehei, Hawaii), who doubled down the left-field line to score two runs.
The two-run lead would be enough as freshman RHP Kevin Bosson was solid in his 6 2/3 innings. The Claremont native allowed just three hits, one earned run and walked four with four strikeouts and improved to 4-5. Reliever Brad Wilson (Garden Grove) came on in relief and allowed two hits and struck out one to record his fourth save.
Shibuya (6-4) took the loss with complete-game effort. He struck out five, walked two and all three runs were earned.
