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
- Men’s Track and Field Completes Three-Peat at CCAA ChampionshipsFor the third consecutive season, the Cal Poly Pomona men's track and field team has claimed the CCAA title. They finished with 250 points, narrowly beating Chico State at 220 and dominating the remainder of the conference – third place being Cal State Los Angeles at 88 points.
- Women’s Track and Field Three-Peats in TurlockFor the third consecutive season, the Cal Poly Pomona women's track and field team has won the CCAA Track and Field Championships. This year, they needed just 159.5 points to claim the title, defeating Chico State (130.5) and Cal State San Bernardino (127).
- Broncos Stunned by Yotes in Regular Season Finale, Look Ahead to CCAA TournamentThe Cal Poly Pomona baseball team fell to Cal State San Bernardino on Saturday afternoon in heartbreaking fashion, as the Yotes hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth to win the final game of the regular season. Though the game had no effect on the CCAA standings, the series loss likely has regional ranking implications for CPP.
- Christensen Wins Shot Put, Broncos Climb to No. 2 at CCAA ChampionshipsThe Cal Poly Pomona women's track and field team had a strong showing in Day 2 of the CCAA Championships on Friday, climbing from sixth place to second in the team leader board.
- Hill Breaks School Record as Men Sweep Long Jump at CCAA ChampionshipsDarius Hill broke the Cal Poly Pomona school record in the long jump on Friday, jumping a distance of 7.64 meters to pass teammate Deandre Smith's mark last season of 7.60 meters. This mark was also good for first place in the event, making Hill the CCAA Champion. Smith and Justin Cardoza also had podium finishes in the long jump, leading to a complete sweep of the event for the Green & Gold.
- Broncos Explode for 21 Runs in San BernardinoThe Broncos split Friday's doubleheader against Cal State San Bernardino, moving to 29-19 on the season and 25-14 in CCAA play. With the two losses in the series, the Broncos are no longer able to pass Cal State San Marcos in the standings, taking them out of contention for the CCAA regular season title.