ROHNERT PARK, CALIF. - On Sunday, March 27th, the Sonoma State baseball team pulled off a thrilling 1-run victory over Cal Poly Pomona for their second straight victory and were able to salvage a series split with the Broncos making it back-to-back series splits. The Seawolves were led by some clutch hitting with multiple RBI's from infielders Joshua Medina and Logan Douglas. Quality pitching from freshman starter Blake Janowicz would get the Seawolves through 4 innings and then Napa Valley JC transfer Tanner Fonoti would come in and pick up his first win as a Seawolf and put on a clinic from the mound in his 4.2 innings of work. 

3RD INNING:

The freshman right hander from Orange Luther HS, Blake Janowicz, made his 5th start of the season and his 7th appearance. Despite Janowicz's 7+ ERA on the season, he has recorded 3 starts with 5+ innings of work so he was more than capable of leading the Seawolves deep into this ball game. 

A leadoff walk from Janowicz would come back to bite him early as he would give up a 2-RBI double to give the Broncos an early 2-0 lead in the 1st. A crucial throwing error from Janowicz on a sacrifice bunt would advance runners to second and third just before the double. Janwoicz would bounce back though and settle in and throw 3 scoreless innings in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th to keep SSU in the game and allow the offense to get going. 

After Janowicz retired three of the four batters he faced in the top half of the 3rd including 1 of his 5 strikeouts in the game, the Seawolves would get on the board with a towering no-doubter from power hitter Otis Statum. The solo shot to lead off the inning would be Statum's 4th of the season, good for 2nd most on the team. 

Two batters later with a runner on first and 1 out, Nick Simmons would slap a hard ground ball right at the first baseman. With outfielder Torreahno Sweet taking off on the pitch, he would be able to get to second safely while Simmons would record the 2nd out of the inning. With Sweet in scoring position and 2 outs, the right man for the job would come up for the Seawolves in veteran Joshua Medina with a chance to tie the game. On a 2-1 fastball, Medina would rope a double deep over the center fielders head into the right-center gap allowing Sweet to score easily and tie up the game at 2 a piece.        

4TH INNING:    

In the bottom of the 4th, a leadoff single from lefty Josh Lopez would chase the Cal Poly Pomona starter from the game and get them into their bullpen early. A sac bunt from Sean Pauly and back-to-back walks to dangerous hitters in Cole Brodnansky and Otis Statum would load the bases with 1 out. Infielder Logan Douglas would come to the dish in a big spot and have arguably the at-bat of the season in a grueling 10-pitch battle. Prior to the end of the at-bat, Pomona pitcher Eric Romo would commit a balk that would move all the runners up a base and send Josh Lopez home to give SSU a 3-2 lead. After the call was debated and protested by the Broncos, the umpires would confirm the call on the field and the run would officially count for the Seawolves. After yet another foul ball from Douglas getting the Seawolves bench amped up again during the at-bat after the delay, Douglas would hit a hard chopper back up the middle scoring Statum and Brodnansky. With the infield in, Douglas shortened up and was able to send a ground ball back up the box to score 2 runs and give his team a momentous 5-2 lead.   

5TH INNING:

The game would get turned on its head a bit after a wacky and momentous 4th inning where the Broncos would chase Janowicz from the game and score 5 runs in the inning to retake the lead. The near 30-minute delay seemed to have an effect on Janowicz after cruising through the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th innings. A hit batter and a 1-out single would force head coach John Goelz to make a change and go to Napa Valley JC Tanner Fonoti. Fonoti would make his 5th appearance of the season as he looked to limit the damage and keep the game within reach. 

Fonoti would come in throwing strikes but the Cal Poly Pomona hitters were ready as they rattled off three straight RBI singles with 2 outs to retake the lead in this back and forth affair. The Broncos would put up a 5-spot in the 5th inning on 5 hits and take a 2 run lead after the top half of the 5th. Despite the tough 5th inning for Fonoti, the flame thrower would bounce back and retire 6 of the next 7 batters to get through the 6th and 7th and set the table once again for the Seawolves offense.  

7TH INNING:

Similar to Janowicz's throwing error back in the 1st, a leadoff error from the Broncos shortstop would prove costly as Simmons would get on to start the inning off. After Simmons advanced to second on a wild pitch, Joshua Medina would come to the dish and once again provide another RBI double on a lined shot into the left center gap to bring Sonoma State to within 1 run. 

Outfielder Braeden Holliday would draw a walk in the next at-bat and then Josh Lopez would nearly go yard over the right field fence but a calm grab from the Pomona outfielder off the fence would allow both runners to tag up and advance a base. Lefty Jared Esparza would come in to pinch hit against the Broncos right hander with a chance to tie the game with runners of 1st and 2nd and just 1 out. 

Esparza would fight off a tough 1-1 pitch and hit a high chopper to a diving Broncos pitcher. Medina would be on his toes on 3rd and dart for home as the Pomona pitcher would've had to make a near perfect play to get him at the plate. Esparza would get thrown out at first but help score the game tying run and record his 6th RBI of the season. 

Catcher Cole Brodnansky would come to the plate looking to give SSU the lead. However, it would be the heads up base running from Holliday on 3rd that would give SSU the 8-7 lead. After working the at-bat to a 2-1 count, the Broncos relief pitcher would yank a fastball that would get all the way to the backstop. Despite the hard ricochet to give the Pomona catcher a chance, Holliday got a good enough jump and a headfirst slide into home would give the Seawolves the emphatic 8-7 lead in the 7th. After going down twice in the game, Goelz and his squad would climb back and retake the lead with the end of the game in their sights. 

A 1-out single in the 8th would give the Broncos some life and bring the go-ahead run to the plate. However, after getting the Pomona batter to fly out, catcher Cole Brodnansky would show off the arm and gun down the Broncos runner at second to end the inning and keep the momentum going into the 9th. The runner would take off on the first pitch of the next at-bat to try and get into scoring position but Brodnansky would throw a dart down to Simmons to end the inning. 

Fonoti would need just 8 pitches in the 9th to close out the game and record his first career win as a Seawolf as Sonoma State held on to split the series with an 8-7 victory. After getting out of the 5th inning, Fonoti would throw a near flawless 4.2 innings as he threw 4 straight scoreless innings on an efficient 54 pitches to end the game. Fonoti would also finish with a career high 4.2 innings pitched and record 0 walks for the first time this season as he improves to 1-2 on the year. 

Joshua Medina and Logan Douglas would guide the way offensively as they combined for 4 hits and 4 RBI's in the contest. Statum was the spark plug for the Seawolves all the way back in the 3rd inning with his solo bomb to left center and Esparza helped tie the game up in the 7th with his tough chopper between the pitcher and first baseman.    

The Seawolves improve to 8-17 overall and 5-11 in CCAA play after their thrilling 8-7 victory over Cal Poly Pomona to split the four game series. SSU will hit the road next week and take on bay area rival SF State on Friday April 1st at 2:00 PM. Live stats and stream links can be found at sonomaseawolves.com and all games can be streamed live on the CCAA Network. Be sure to follow your Seawolves on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to get all the latest SSU athletics updates and information. Sonoma State athletics also has launched a new fan app in partnership with From Now On. Download the free app today in both the Apple and Google Play stores by searching Sonoma State Seawolves in the app store. @SonomaSeawolves | #NomaNation