Broncos Climb CCAA Standings While Claiming Series
POMONA, Calif. – The Cal Poly Pomona baseball team won both games of Saturday's doubleheader against Cal State Dominguez Hills at Scolinos Field, improving their overall record to 27-17 on the season. Their three wins against the Toros thus far ensures a series victory headed into Sunday's series finale.
After the win in game one on Saturday, the Broncos passed Cal State Monterey Bay for second place in the conference standings. They now sit just half a game behind Cal State San Marcos for first place. This means if the Broncos win on Sunday, and the Cougars lose to Stanislaus State, CPP will take control of the conference standings with just four games remaining in the regular season.
Game 1: CPP 5, CSUDH 2
Like clockwork, Rhys Stevens tossed 7.0 innings while giving up less than three runs, picking up his fifth quality start in his past six outings. Despite striking out just two, Stevens did not allow baserunners, surrendering just one free pass via the walk. Two solo home runs by the Toros in the third and fourth innings would account for their entire offensive production, as Stevens' season ERA would drop to 3.09 on the year and his record would improve to 3-3. Saturday's performance was also the 10th win of his career.
After going down 1-0 in the third inning, the Broncos got one back on a fielder's choice that pushed across Nick Lugo to even the game at 1-1. Down 2-1 in the fourth, Brent Cota singled through the right side, once again scoring Lugo to bring the score back even at 2-2. Two batters later, Jack Sanders singled to the shortstop, scoring Beau Betten to put the Broncos ahead 3-2.
In the eighth inning, the Broncos added on two more runs on three hits to extend the lead to three. Carlo Flores threw the final two innings of the game, allowing two hits and no runs while striking out two to pick up his first save as a Bronco. In 14.2 career innings thrown for CPP, Flores has a ridiculous 0.61 ERA with 17 strikeouts and a .151 opponent batting average.
Game 2: CPP 9, CSUDH 2 (7 innings)
The Toros got on the board early, with the second batter of the game hitting a solo home run off starting pitcher Noel Soto. After a rocky first inning, Soto found his groove and allowed just one hit over the next three frames. The Broncos took the lead in the second inning, thanks to a wild pitch and an RBI ground out from Lugo to make the score 2-1 in favor of the Green & Gold.
CSUDH then tied the game in the top of the fifth inning on an RBI single, making the score 2-2. The Broncos would respond with a crooked number the very next frame, scoring four runs on three hits to gain big separation at 6-2. This was thanks to back-to-back RBI doubles from Marco Malerba and Anthony Gibbons, and later by a Lugo single down the right field line that scored two.
The final blow came in the bottom of the sixth inning, when Jack Sanders launched his second home run of the weekend on a hanging breaking ball over the left centerfield fence. This was also his ninth home run of the season, which leads the team and ranks third in the conference.
Soto picked up the win after throwing 6.0 innings and allowing just two earned runs, improving to 7-2 on the season.
Up Next
The Broncos will face Cal State Dominguez Hills in the series finale tomorrow, April 28th, at 12:00 PM. The team will be honoring their seniors with a pregame ceremony beginning at 11:30 AM.
Bronco Bits
- The Broncos are 132-89 (.597) all-time against Cal State Dominguez Hills. In their past 40 contests since 2014, CPP owns a 33-7 (.825) record against the Toros.
- Randy Betten is now 411-259 (.613) as head coach of the Broncos. He is 31 CCAA wins away from passing John Scolinos for most conference games won in CPP history. Betten is now 294-189 (.609) in CCAA games, while Scolinos was 324-256-3 (.558) in conference competition.
- Jack Sanders' 41-game on-base streak is the longest for CPP since 2012. He has reached base in every single contest since game two of opening day against Azusa Pacific at home.
- The Broncos have outscored their opponents 45-9 in their past 5 games.
Latest All Athletics News
- Baseball Headed to NCAA Tournament for 16th Time in Program HistoryFor the 16th time in program history, and the eighth time in the past nine seasons, the Cal Poly Pomona baseball team will compete in the NCAA Tournament. With a 31-22 overall record, the Broncos secured the No. 4 seed in the west region, sending them to San Diego for the second time in three seasons.
- Broncos' CCAA Tournament Run Ends in SemifinalsThe Broncos lost two games on Friday, ending their 2024 CCAA Tournament title aspirations. Both games finished with a final score of 5-4, as both Cal State Monterey Bay and San Francisco State will now face each other in the championship game on Saturday.
- Soto and Small Ball Take Down Cougars, Broncos Advance in CCAA TournamentThe Cal Poly Pomona baseball team won their CCAA Tournament quarterfinal game on Thursday, defeating Cal State San Marcos 10-3 to improve to 31-20 on the season. With the win, the No. 3 seed Broncos advance to the CCAA Tournament semifinal game against No. 1 seed Cal State Monterey Bay.
- Reyes and Sanders Lead Broncos in CCAA Tournament VictoryThe Cal Poly Pomona baseball team defeated Sonoma State on Wednesday afternoon, winning by a score of 8-3 to pick up their 30th win of the season. With the victory, the Broncos escape the opening round elimination game and advance to the four-team double elimination bracket starting on Thursday.
- Reyes Repeats as Pitcher of the Year, Seven Broncos Named All-CCAA as CPP Prepares to Host TournamentSeven Broncos earned All-CCAA honors on Tuesday night, including Caleb Reyes being named CCAA Pitcher of the Year for the second season in a row. He is the first student-athlete in over 25 years to win the award in back-to-back seasons.
- Women’s Track and Field Three-Peats in TurlockFor the third consecutive season, the Cal Poly Pomona women's track and field team has won the CCAA Track and Field Championships. This year, they needed just 159.5 points to claim the title, defeating Chico State (130.5) and Cal State San Bernardino (127).
