The Pioneer baseball team finished off their Southern California trip with their second split of the weekend, falling 12-1 (box score) in the first game and then rebounding with a 7-3 (box score) victory in game two against the Occidental Tigers.

In the first game, the Pioneers, trailing 2-0 in the top of the fourth,  Jordan Shibata (senior, Pearl City, Hawaii)  led off the inning with a single. He came around to score  on a sac fly by Jordan Wlodarczyk (junior, Lake Oswego, Calif.), cutting the Occidental lead in half. Occidental scored five runs in the bottom of the inning to go up 7-1. A two-run fifth and a three-run sixth gave them the 12-1 victory.

Eric Muraoka (senior, Honolulu, Hawaii) took the loss. He threw 4.1 innings, allowing nine earned runs on nine hits.

In the second game, the Pioneers got right to business. After the first two runners reached on a walk and an error, designated hitter Jordan Wlodarczyk single to left center to drive in the first run of the inning. After scoring another run on a sac fly, third baseman TJ Witkowski (sophomore, Tooele, Utah) doubled down the left field line to drive in two and make it a four-run first for the Pioneers.

The Pioneer offense kept it up in the second inning, with the first six batters reaching base before Occidental recorded an out. Singles to right field by center fielder Ryan Kostecka (freshman, Napa, Calif.) and left fielder Chris Estrella (senior, Henderson, Nevada) drove in two of the Pioneers' three runs, giving the Pioneers a 7-0 lead. 

Occidental scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth, but the Pioneers' Tucker Laurence (freshman, San Martin, Calif.) closed out the game, earning the first save of his collegiate career. Laurence, who earned a win Saturday against Pomona, worked 1.2 innings, allowing no hits, walking one, and striking out three.

The Pioneers will have a break in their schedule, returning to action on March 1 when they head to Salem to take on the Willamette Bearcats.