Broncos Suffer Heartbreak in Series Finale
POMONA, Calif. – After a 53-hour delay, the Broncos and Cougars concluded their series on Tuesday night in exciting fashion, seeing three lead changes in the final three innings. In the end, the Cougars came out on top with a 13-10 win, salvaging the series split and maintaining second place in the CCAA standings. With the loss, the Broncos fall to 21-16 overall and 17-11 in conference, and are once again tied with San Francisco State for third place in the conference.
On Sunday, CSUSM got out to a quick 5-0 lead in the first two innings, including four runs on five hits in the top of the first inning alone. The Broncos got a pair back in the bottom of the second, coming from a leadoff double by freshman Julian Angulo, followed by a two-run shot off the bat of Darius Price to make the score 5-2. Both teams would score one more in the third and fourth innings, the Broncos' run coming on a Beau Betten RBI single through the left side that scored Angulo to make the score 6-3.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, another Angulo double would score Marco Malerba to narrow the deficit to 6-4 and put two runners in scoring position. Price would come up big again for the Broncos, singling through the left side to score both runners and tying the game at 6-6.
Then came the rain…After a three-hour delay, the coaches and umpires agreed to call the game, and play the remaining four innings on Tuesday night.
Fast forward to Tuesday, the Cougars broke the tie in the top of the seventh with an RBI double to make the score 7-6. Then in the bottom of the eighth, the CPP offense orchestrated an impressive comeback with a Jack Sanders triple down the left field line, scoring two runs to take a late 8-7 lead. The very next batter, Marco Malerba, crushed a 3-2 pitch over the fence in right field for his third home run of the season, extending the lead to 10-7 and giving CPP late insurance runs.
Just three outs away from the series win, the Broncos struggled to close the door. Three consecutive hits would load the bases to open the inning, and two more hits would quickly tie the game at 10-10. With the bases still loaded and two outs, Garrett Teunissen doubled down the left field line, clearing the bases and giving the Cougars a 13-10 lead. Cal Poly Pomona would go down without a run in the bottom of the inning, resulting in their 16th loss of the season.
Up Next
The Broncos will face Cal State LA this weekend on the road, with first pitch of Game 1 set for 6:00 PM this Friday, April 19th.
Bronco Bits
- CPP is now 22-6 (.786) all-time against CSUSM dating back to the 2016 season, when the Cougars joined the CCAA. The Broncos are 6-4 against the Cougars in their past 10 games. CPP's longest win streak against San Marcos is 11 games, from 2016 to 2018.
- Randy Betten is now 405-258 (.611) overall as head coach of the Broncos. He remains 37 CCAA wins away from passing John Scolinos for most conference games won in CPP history. He is now 288-188 (.605) in CCAA games, while Scolinos was 324-256-3 (.558) in conference competition.
- Johnny Pappas now has 94 career walks, tying Matt Stevens (2002-05) for 7th most in program history.
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.
