POMONA, Calif. – Cal Poly Pomona battled their way to a series win on Saturday, taking both games of the doubleheader against No. 25 Westmont. After an emphatic come-from-behind, walk-off win in the first game, the Broncos held on in the nightcap. The offense continued to impress, scoring 22 runs on the day with 31 hits.
Game 1: CPP 12, WC 11 (10 innings)
Both teams came out swinging in the opening game of the doubleheader, combining for 11 runs in the first four innings. Westmont struck first in the opening frame on an RBI single, but Cal Poly Pomona quickly responded with two runs in the bottom half, coming from an Anthony Gibbons RBI single and a Sebastian Arguelles bases-loaded walk.
Westmont launched a solo home run in the second, and a fielder's choice gave the Warriors a brief 3-2 lead. However, Johnny Pappas countered with a solo homer of his own, his second of the season, before Marco Malerba's RBI groundout put the Broncos back ahead 4-3.
The Warriors took control in the fourth with a two-run home run after multiple RBI hits, putting Westmont up 7-4. CPP clawed back with a sacrifice fly in the sixth off the bat of Brent Cota, before Jack Sanders' two-run homer in the seventh cut the deficit to 9-7. Sanders is coming off a monster 2024 campaign, where his 14 home runs and 58 RBI last season ranked third-most and fourth-most, respectively, in a season in program history.
Westmont tacked on two insurance runs in the ninth, including an RBI double, but the Broncos refused to go down quietly. Down to their final three outs, Cal Poly Pomona loaded the bases and capitalized on a hit-by-pitch to make it 11-8. Robbie Treto followed with a clutch pinch-hit, two-out single to left center to score two runs and narrow the score to 11-10. Three pitches later, Tyler Chaffee, another pinch-hitter, roped a ball to deep left center field for an RBI double to tie the game at 11-11, but Treto was thrown out attempting to score the winning run to end the frame.
After Westmont failed to score in the 10th, Cal Poly Pomona loaded the bases once again in the bottom half, thanks to a leadoff double by Pappas and two walks. Julian Angulo then hit a walk-off single through the left side to bring home Pappas, giving the Broncos a thrilling victory for their first win of the season.
Aren Alvarez earned the win for the Broncos on the mound after throwing a scoreless 10th inning, the first win of his CPP career.
Game 2: CPP 10, WC 6
Pappas led off the game with a bang, as he hit the very first pitch the Broncos saw into the trees beyond the left field fence. It was Pappas' third home run in as many games, while also moving him up to eighth all-time on the CPP list with 21 in his career. Two batters later, Angulo obliterated a ball down the left field line, going through the trees and into the second row of the parking lot to put CPP ahead 2-0. They kept the pressure on in the second inning, adding two more runs on a sacrifice fly form Pappas and an RBI single from Sanders, extending their lead to 4-0.
Westmont got on the board in the third inning on a balk, but CPP answered with three runs in the bottom half, highlighted by a wild pitch and a two-run single that chopped over the third baseman from Beau Betten, making it 7-1.
The Warriors responded in the fourth with a power surge of their own. Trey Dunn led off with a solo homer over the batter's eye in center field, and Patterson followed with a grand slam, cutting the deficit to 7-6. However, the Broncos immediately tacked on a run in the bottom half on an RBI double from Treto, pushing their lead to 8-6.
Cal Poly Pomona's bullpen took over from there, with Ruben Del Castillo throwing five shutout innings in relief, allowing just four hits and striking out four to earn his first win of the season. Starting pitcher Chris Fields had a strong first three innings, before getting bit by the long ball in the fourth.
The Broncos added insurance runs in the sixth and eighth innings, capitalizing on a Westmont error and an RBI single from Chaffee. The Green & Gold would ultimately hold on for the 10-6 win, improving to 2-1 on the season and claiming the series win.
Up Next
The Broncos will host Colorado Mesa next Thursday thru Saturday in a four game series at Scolinos Field. First pitch on Thursday will be 5:00 PM.
Bronco Bits
- The Broncos are now 4-4 all-time against Westmont.
- Randy Betten is now 418-267 (.610) as head coach of the Broncos.
- Betten is now 33-20 in extra inning games in his career at CPP, and 41-30 when a team walks off.
- Friday's season opener was Betten's first game coaching in the month of January.
- The first win of Saturday's doubleheader was associate head coach Jenzen Torres' 350th as a member of the CPP coaching staff.
- The first win of Saturday's doubleheader was also the program's 1,750th win all-time.
- The last time the Broncos were 2-1 to open the season was 2022.
- The offense has recorded double-digit hits in all three games this season, as CPP leads the CCAA by a wide margin with a .362 team batting average.
- Julian Angulo currently leads the CCAA in batting average at .600.
- Johnny Pappas currently leads the CCAA in home runs with three.
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