Weather Warriors, Broncos Walk-Off Doubleheader in the Rain
POMONA, Calif. - The Cal Poly Pomona baseball team battled through some tough weather on Saturday to win both games of their doubleheader, improving to 21-15 on the season and 17-10 in conference play. The Broncos have taken sole possession of third place in the conference standings, and are just 0.5 games behind Cal State San Marcos - who entered the day in first place.
Game 1: CPP 11, CSUSM 1
Starting pitcher Rhys Stevens stole the show in the opening game of the doubleheader, throwing seven dominant innings while not allowing a run and scattering just two hits. The redshirt junior struck out three batters and allowed just two free passes on 101 pitches. Stevens picked up the win, his second of the season and the ninth of his career.
The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the fifth inning, when CPP exploded for six runs on four hits to take a commanding lead. Johnny Pappas pushed across the first two runs of the game on an RBI single up the middle, later followed by RBI singles from Marco Malerba and Tyler Chaffee. The Broncos scored two more in the bottom of the sixth on a no-doubt solo shot from centerfielder Brent Cota, his sixth of the season, as well as a sacrifice fly by Anthony Gibbons.
The Green & Gold would put the nail in the coffin in the bottom of the seventh, scoring three more to take an 11-0 lead.
Game 2: CPP 6, CSUSM 5 (8 innings)
Similar to the first game of the day, game two featured no scoring until the fifth inning. With two outs, the Cougars managed to rattle off five hits to score all five of their runs – including four consecutive RBI singles. This would be starting pitcher Noel Soto's final frame, despite a stellar start to the game with just three hits and zero runs allowed in his first four innings.
The Broncos did not back down, immediately responding with two runs of their own in the bottom of the fifth on a two-run double down the left field line by Malerba. The junior out of Glendora is batting .600 on the weekend, while also driving in five RBI and collecting three extra base hits.
Fast forward to the bottom of the seventh, the Broncos trailed 5-2 with just three outs remaining in the game and the rain starting to come down. Two runners managed to get on while two outs were recorded, sending Darius Price to the plate with the game on the line. On the second pitch, he roped a ball up the middle to score both runners, cutting the deficit to 5-4. After a Jacob Lopez single put runners on first and second, Nick Lugo smacked a ball through the right side to score Price, tying the game at 5-5. The inning would end on a flyout, sending the game into extras.
Chris Fields would throw a scoreless top of the eighth, setting the stage for the Broncos in the bottom of the inning. Cota led off with a single to left field, then advanced all the way to third on a balk and a wild pitch. Jack Sanders then lifted a ball to center field in the pouring rain, allowing Cota to tag up and score the game-winning run on a throw that skipped past the catcher for CPP's first walk-off victory of the season.
Walking off in the rain! @BaseballCPP wins both games of their doubleheader today and are now 21-15 on the season 💪 pic.twitter.com/WNFSelm0ac
— Cal Poly Pomona Broncos (@cppbroncos) April 14, 2024
Up Next
The Broncos and Cougars will conclude their series tomorrow morning at 11:00 AM, moved up an hour from the originally scheduled 12:00 PM start time in an effort to avoid impending weather.
Bronco Bits
- CPP is now 22-5 (.815) all-time against CSUSM dating back to the 2016 season, when the Cougars joined the CCAA. The Broncos are 7-3 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 405-257 (.612) overall as head coach of the Broncos. He is 37 CCAA wins away from passing John Scolinos for most conference games won in CPP history. He is now 288-187 (.606) in CCAA games, while Scolinos was 324-256-3 (.558) in conference competition.
- The Broncos have now won at least 20 games in every single season since 2008 (excluding COVID), and are currently on pace for their 13th consecutive winning season under Betten.
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.
