BOX SCORE #20 Sonoma State 7, Cal Poly Pomona 5 -- Box Score

POMONA, Calif. -- Sam Montgomery went 3 for 5 at the plate and brought home two runs, both in the five-run sixth inning for Sonoma State, to help the visitors to a 7-5 series-opening victory over host Cal Poly Pomona on Thursday at Scolinos Field in Pomona.  The Seawolves, ranked at No. 20 in this week's NCAA Division II Top 30 Coaches' Poll, rise to 19-8 this season and 11-6 in the CCAA.  The Broncos, meanwhile, fall to 17-13 (10-11 CCAA).

Tied 1-1 through four complete innings of play, Sonoma plated six runs over the next two innings, including five in the sixth to take a 7-1 lead.  Pomona would answer with four runs in its next two at bats, three of which came across the plate in the bottom of the fifth, but that is all the Broncos could muster, as Steven Zaharias saved the victory on the mound for Taylor Herbert (2-1) and the Seawolves. 

Herbert went the first 5.1 innings and gave up four runs (three earned) and walked one, striking out two.  Zaharias notched his fourth save of the year, allowing one run on four hits in the final 3.2 innings of the ballgame.

Montgomery recorded three of SSU's eight hits off of four different CPP hurlers in the contest.  Jackson Stogner had a pair of hits with an RBI and a run scored and Garrett Schwartz brought home a pair of runs to pace the Seawolves offensively.

Cal Poly Pomona starter Max Bethell (3-3) was tagged with the loss after giving up the go-ahead run in the fifth, which chased him from the game.

The four-game series between Sonoma State and Cal Poly Pomona will continue with a single game on Friday, starting at 3:00 p.m.  Games three and four will be played on Saturday; the doubleheader will begin at 11:00 a.m.