Mustangs come from behind to beat Broncos

Box Score The Master's baseball team scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth and four in the bottom of the seventh to erase a 6-run deficit and defeat the Cal Poly Pomona Broncos 9-6 Friday at Lou Herwaldt Stadium.

The NCAA Division II Broncos put four on the board in the top of the third inning and added two more in the top of the fifth to jump out to a 6-0 lead, which made the comeback all the more impressive for the Mustang nine.

"That was a great victory against a very good club," said TMU Head Coach Monte Brooks. "Again, the guys have been resilient. They stuck to the system of one pitch at a time and one inning at a time. 

Once again it was the middle innings that saw the Mustangs (6-3) put crooked numbers up on the scoreboard. In the fifth inning alone, TMU has scored in six of the nine games played this season.

"We had some big at bats and some big blows, and we ran the bases very well," Brooks said. "Very resilient, and simple-mindedness is what kept us in the game."

Cason Brownell's single up the middle scored Jacob Kowes to get the scoring started for TMU in the fifth. That was followed by Jack Drew reaching on a fielder's choice that scored Zach Jenkins. Brownell then scored on a wild pitch Before Isaiah Morales's double plated both Kobe Katayama and Owen Payn.

Then in the seventh and trailing 6-5, Austin Young's double to center field scored Scotty Piper to tie the game. Morales then singled to right center to score Owen Payn to put the Mustangs on top. The next batter was Ty Beck, who paid the insurance policy with a 2-run blast to right field to put The Master's on top for good 9-6.

James Coker got the start on the bump for TMU, going 6.0 innings and striking out four while walking three. J.T. Friesen came on for an inning of work in the seventh inning to get the win, followed by an inning from Michael Chung and the final inning by Emilio Morales, who picked up the save.

"Outside of our walks we threw great," Coach Brooks said. "We only gave up four hits in the game. We are getting more consistent at pounding the mitt."

The Master's will square off with Cal Poly Pomona on Saturday in a double header that will get started at 10:30 a.m. at Lou Herwaldt Stadium.