Box Score CLAREMONT, California – The Puget Sound baseball team scored six runs in the ninth inning, but its comeback bid in a slug-fest at Pomona-Pitzer came up just short, 19-17.
The Loggers (1-2) trailed 19-11 entering the ninth inning, but James Dejesus (1-for-2, R, 2B) led off with a double to centerfield. Logan Day (1-for-2, R, RBI) followed with an RBI single to right, and singles by Connor Savage (3-for-5, 4 R, 2B, SB) and John Hosmer (1-for-1, 2R) loaded the bases.
Ben Jones' (2-for-2, 2R, RBI) single allowed Day to score and kept the bases loaded for Layne Croney (2-for-5, 2 R, 6 RBI, HR), whose first-career home run was a dramatic grand slam that brought the Loggers to within 19-17.
Nick Funyak (0-for-1) struck out and Troy Kakugawa (1-for-5) grounded out to end the improbable comeback bid.
The Sagehens (2-2) grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first inning, but the Loggers put four runs on the board in the second, highlighted by Bobby Hosmer's (2-for-3, R, 2 2B, 4 RBI) three-run double. Chris Zerio's (2-for-4, R, 2B, RBI) RBI single in the third inning increased Puget Sound's lead to 5-2, but Pomona-Pitzer struck for 10 runs in the bottom of the frame.
The Loggers began to chip away at the 12-5 deficit when they scored three runs in the top of the fifth inning. Nathan Backes (1-for-2, 2R, 2B) hit a two-run double, and Bobby Hosmer added an RBI double of his own in the inning. However, the Sagehens pieced together four runs in the bottom of the frame to push the lead to 16-8.
Pomona-Pitzer scored three more runs in the sixth inning, but Puget Sound got those runs back in the eighth. Savage reached base with a two-out single, while John Hosmer and Jones both walked to load the bases. Croney followed with a two-run single, and Ryan Darrow (0-for-1, RBI) drew a bases-loaded walk for the inning's third run.
Puget Sound eclipsed 15 runs once in 2014 - an 18-3 victory against Willamette on April 27.
The Loggers return to action with a doubleheader at Concordia (Ore.) on Friday, Feb. 13. First pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m.
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