Sunday Sweep, Broncos Take All Four From Warriors
TURLOCK, Calif. – The Cal Poly Pomona baseball team swept Stanislaus State on Sunday, their first sweep since taking all four games against UC Colorado Springs to open the 2023 season. With both wins, the Broncos improve to 19-13 on the season and 15-9 in CCAA play, holding steady at third place in the conference standings. They have also now won 12 of their past 15 games.
Game 1: CPP 9, STAN 1
The Broncos collected double-digit hits for the 18th time this season in the opening game of the doubleheader, led by a three-hit performance from right fielder AJ Nimeh. Junior Jack Sanders also hit two triples in the game, while both Nimeh and Anthony Gibbons collected a double.
The Broncos put up crooked numbers in the fourth, seventh, and ninth innings, contributing to a nine-run performance. In fact, 10 of CPP's 13 hits came in these three innings alone. Junior infielder Beau Betten also had two sacrifice bunts in the game, bringing his season total to a team-leading five. That mark currently ranks third in the conference.
Evan Adolphus delivered his longest start as a Bronco, going 7.0 innings and throwing 107 pitches. The junior allowed just one earned run and eight hits, while striking out five Stanislaus State batters. In his past two starts, Adolphus has allowed just one earned run in 13.0 innings while striking out nine.
Drew Atherton threw the final two innings of the game, holding the Warrior bats to one hit and zero runs to secure the Green & Gold's 18th win of the season. If you remove the four runs given up to Monterey Bay on March 3rd, Atherton has not allowed a run in 6.2 innings this year, scattering just three hits in those games and striking out seven.
Game 2: CPP 8, STAN 4 (7 innings)
In the second game of the doubleheader, the Broncos corralled some late-inning magic once again to pull out an 8-4 win and secure the four game sweep.
With the game tied at 2-2 entering the seventh, the Bronco plated six runs in the final inning off a Brent Cota RBI single up the middle, a Johnny Pappas two-run double down the left field line, and a Jack Sanders RBI single through the right side. That is now five consecutive games that CPP has scored in the final inning of the game, three of those late pushes including the game-winning run.
Tyler Chaffee later singled to center field, his fourth hit of the ballgame, to score Nimeh and Gibbons to extend the lead to 8-2. The team would finish with 10 hits, their 19th double-digit game of the season.
Starting pitcher Noel Soto threw his second consecutive seven-inning complete game, allowing eight hits and three earned runs while punching out four batters. The Lakewood native was very efficient, throwing just 86 pitches in the complete game victory. With the win, Soto improves to 5-2 on the season.
Up Next
The Broncos will return home for a non-conference game against No. 5 Point Loma this Tuesday, April 9th, at Scolinos Field. First pitch is set for 5:00 PM.
Bronco Bits
- The Broncos are now 67-38-1 (.637) all-time against Stanislaus State, including 6-4 in their past 10 games.
- Randy Betten is now 403-255 (.612) as head coach of the Broncos, including a 286-186 (.606) in CCAA games.
- Johnny Pappas now ranks 8th in school history in walks with 92 in his career. His 31 on the season also ranks 18th in the country.
- Nick Lugo ranks 45th in the country in toughest to strike out, having just seven strikeouts in 100 at-bats this year.
Latest All Athletics News
- Jack Sanders Earns Second CCAA Player of the Week HonorsJack Sanders of Cal Poly Pomona has been selected the CCAA Baseball Player of the Week after an offensive week.
- Senior Day Sweep, Broncos Win 6th StraightThe Broncos won their sixth straight game on Sunday, completing the series sweep over Cal State Dominguez Hills with a 12-0 shutout and improving their overall record to 28-17 on the season. The Broncos have outscored their opponents 57-9 during their six-game winning streak.
- Broncos Climb CCAA Standings While Claiming SeriesThe 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. They now sit just half a game behind Cal State San Marcos for first place.
- Broncos Clinch CCAA Tournament Berth With Convincing Win Over TorosFor the ninth consecutive season, the Broncos will be headed to the CCAA Tournament. With the 12-1 win over Cal State Dominguez Hills, the Broncos improve to 25-17 on the season and 21-12 in CCAA play while ranking third in the conference standings. They are just 0.5 games behind second-place Cal State Monterey Bay and 1.5 games behind first-place Cal State San Marcos.
- Broncos Rank Top 15 Nationally in Three More Events After 64th Annual Mt. SAC RelaysThe Cal Poly Pomona women's track and field team competed at the 64th Annual Mt. SAC Relays this past weekend, meeting five NCAA provisional qualifying marks and breaking five personal records. Three of the Broncos' five provisional marks in the meet now rank Top 15 in the nation.
- Ryan Fields Captures 15th Career CCAA Track Athlete of the Week AwardFor the fourth time in the past six weeks, Cal Poly Pomona's Ryan Fields has been named the CCAA Men's Track Athlete of the Week for the week of April 15-21. Fields becomes the 40th CCAA Athlete of the Week for CPP during 2023-24, making the Broncos the first school to ever reach 40 in an academic year. Fields now has 15 CCAA Athlete of the Week awards in his career, nearly doubling the previous conference record of eight. His sister, Ayana, is also now second in conference history with nine in her career.
