Reyes One Out Short of Complete Game in Series Opening Win
LOS ANGELES – Caleb Reyes came within one out of a complete game on Friday night, throwing 8.2 innings and picking up his fifth win of the season. With the series-opening victory over Cal State LA, Cal Poly Pomona improves to 22-16 on the season and 18-11 in conference play, taking sole possession of third place in the CCAA standings.
Reyes, an Encino native, was dominant for the Green & Gold in his eighth start of the season. He allowed just three hits and two earned runs in his first eight innings of work, while striking out five batters. With two outs in the ninth inning of a tight game and already 102 pitches deep, Reyes surrendered a double, forcing his exit from the game just one out shy of his second career nine inning complete game.
The game remained scoreless throughout the first four innings, before the Broncos got on the board in the top of the fifth on a Jack Sanders RBI single and an Anthony Gibbons sacrifice fly, making the score 2-0. Beau Betten added one more in the sixth with an RBI single up the middle, extending the lead to 3-0. CSULA would respond with a solo home run in the bottom of the inning, cutting the deficit to two.
In the eighth, Nick Lugo reached on a costly error by the Golden Eagle shortstop, advancing to second on the play. Brent Cota advanced Lugo 90 feet with his third sac bunt of the season, which allowed Johnny Pappas to push across the Broncos' fourth run of the game with a sacrifice fly.
Having scored one run in the bottom of the eighth to make the score 4-2, the Golden Eagles made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth. After hitting a double with two outs to knock Reyes out of the game, CSULA immediately hit another double to left center off reliever Drew Atherton to narrow the lead to 4-3 – while also putting the tying run in scoring position. With a full count, Atherton froze the batter for a called strike three, slamming the door shut and securing the win - as well as Atherton's first career save.
Up Next
The Broncos and Golden Eagles will play a doubleheader tomorrow, April 20th, with first pitch set for 1:00 PM.
Bronco Bits
- CPP is now 122-112 (.521) all-time against Cal State LA, including 7-3 in their past 10 games. The Broncos' largest margin of victory is 13 runs, which, shockingly, came in an extra inning game in 2022 where CPP scored 13 runs in the top of the 10th inning to win 22-9.
- Randy Betten is now 406-258 (.611) overall as head coach of the Broncos. He is 36 CCAA wins away from passing John Scolinos for most conference games won in CPP history. He is now 289-188 (.606) in CCAA games, while Scolinos was 324-256-3 (.558) in conference competition.
- Johnny Pappas now has 96 career walks, currently ranking 7th in CPP history. With one more, he will tie Chris Clark (1978-80) for 6th most in program history at 97. Pappas' current coach, Jenzen Torres, is tied with Tom Weeks for 4th most at 100.
- The Broncos are now 11-8 both at home and on the road this season.
- Drew Atherton recorded his first career save on Friday night, after throwing 124.0 innings across 41 appearances in his CPP career. The La Crescenta native was primarily a starter in his first few seasons, making 19 starts from 2019-2022.
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- Broncos Collect 22 Hits in Regional Win Over CougarsThe Cal Poly Pomona baseball team won their opening game of the 2024 NCAA Tournament on Thursday, defeating Cal State San Marcos by a score of 13-5. Their 22 hits in the win is tied for their most in a game since 2017, when they collected 28 hits – which was also against Cal State San Marcos.
- Four Broncos Earn All-West Region HonorsFour Cal Poly Pomona baseball student-athletes earned All-West Region First Team honors on Wednesday morning, including Johnny Pappas, Caleb Reyes, Rhys Stevens, and Jack Sanders.
- CCAA Joins FloSports in Historic Media Rights AgreementFloSports, a leading global sports media company, and the CCAA, the most successful NCAA Division II conference with 156 National Championships, have entered into an exclusive multi-year, seven-figure media rights agreement to begin this Fall.
- CCAA Joins FloSports in Historic Media Rights AgreementFloSports, a leading global sports media company, and the CCAA, the most successful NCAA Division II conference with 156 National Championships, have entered into an exclusive multi-year, seven-figure media rights agreement to begin this Fall.
- CCAA Joins FloSports in Historic Media Rights AgreementFloSports, a leading global sports media company, and the CCAA, the most successful NCAA Division II conference with 156 National Championships, have entered into an exclusive multi-year, seven-figure media rights agreement to begin this Fall.