POMONA, Calif. – The Cal Poly Pomona baseball team kicked off their 65th season with a home game against Westmont College at Scolinos Field on Friday night, falling 5-4 in an exciting final few innings. Five of the nine runs in the game were scored in the final two innings, but ultimately the Broncos fell one run short. Randy Betten is now 11-3 in season openers as head coach of the Broncos, as this is CPP's first time starting 0-1 since the 2022 season.
The Warriors struck first in the top of the second when Trey Dunn singled and later scored on an RBI single by Jack Bollengier to take a 1-0 lead. However, Cal Poly Pomona responded in the bottom of the third, capitalizing on defensive miscues to plate two unearned runs on RBI singles from Jack Sanders and Marco Malerba, putting the Broncos ahead 2-1.
Westmont tied the game in the fifth when Shane Hofstadler tripled and later scored on an error, making it 2-2. The Warriors reclaimed the lead in the eighth on an RBI single from Daniel Patterson, who reached base via a hit by pitch, pushing the score to 3-2.
The Broncos, however, wouldn't go quietly. In the bottom of the eighth, Julian Angulo doubled down the left field line to put a runner in scoring position with one out. Dominic Porter made his debut as a Bronco as a pinch runner, later scoring on a clutch RBI single from Anthony Gibbons, knotting the game at 3-3.
In the top of the ninth, Westmont came up with the decisive blow. After a one out single, Bollengier advanced to second on a wild pitch, and later third on a passed ball. A walk and stolen base then set the stage for a clutch two-out, two-run single to right field, giving Westmont a 5-3 advantage.
Cal Poly Pomona made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth when Johnny Pappas launched a solo home run to left-center, cutting the deficit to 5-4 for his 19th career home run. However, the next batter would strike out to end the game.
Anthony Cosme – a true freshman - made the opening day start for the Broncos, going 4.2 innings with three strikeouts and one earned run allowed on four hits. Tyler Reiter, a senior transfer from the University of Redlands, threw 4.1 innings out of the pen, striking out five and allowing three earned runs will taking the loss.
Up Next
The Broncos and Warriors return to action tomorrow, February 1st, for a doubleheader beginning at 12:00 PM.
Bronco Bits
- The Broncos are now 2-4 all-time against Westmont.
- Randy Betten is now 416-267 (.609) as head coach of the Broncos.
- CPP is 11-3 in their season openers under Betten.
- Johnny Pappas, Jack Sanders, Julian Angulo, and Sebastian Arguelles all recorded two hits in the contest.
- The team's 11 strikeouts on Friday night ties the most during the 2024 season.
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