Broncos Clinch CCAA Tournament Berth With Convincing Win Over Toros
POMONA, Calif. – For the ninth consecutive season, the Broncos will be headed to the CCAA Tournament. This tournament means a little bit more, as it will be hosted at Scolinos Field on the campus of Cal Poly Pomona for the first time in the history of the event (since 1999). It will also be the first time the Broncos have played a postseason game at Scolinos Field since 1985.
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.
Catcher Johnny Pappas led off the scoring for CPP, homering to left field on the third pitch he saw to put the Broncos quickly ahead 1-0. It was Pappas' 15th career home run, putting him two away from cracking the all-time Top 10 list.
Jack Sanders had the swing of the night for the Green & Gold. With the score tied 1-1 in the bottom of the fifth, Sanders drilled a pitch deep over the left field fence to unload the bases and give the Broncos an immediate 5-1 lead.
Jack Slamders ™ pic.twitter.com/yUMqsHiqft— Cal Poly Pomona Broncos (@cppbroncos) April 27, 2024
The Broncos would add on seven more runs in the sixth and seventh innings, coming on 10 hits – including seven singles and three doubles. Pappas led the Broncos with three hits on the night, while Sanders, Anthony Gibbons, Darius Price, Nick Lugo, and Brent Cota each collected multiple hits.
Despite an impressive offensive showing with 12 runs on 15 hits, the Broncos only needed two runs to take home the win, thanks to yet another dominant outing by starting pitcher Caleb Reyes. After nearly throwing a complete game last week, Reyes threw 7.0 innings while only allowing one earned run and striking out seven Toro batters. With the win, he improves to 6-0 on the season and is one of 17 qualified pitchers in the nation to still have a perfect record.
Ruben Del Castillo and Cedrick Perez each tossed a scoreless inning in the eighth and ninth innings, with Del Castillo striking out two of the four batters he faced.
Up Next
The Broncos and Toros will play in a doubleheader tomorrow, April 27th, with game one starting at 2:00 PM. The 1976 CPP national championship team will throw out a ceremonial first pitch before the first game (approx. 1:45 PM), so make sure to be there early!
Bronco Bits
- The Broncos are 130-89 (.594) all-time against Cal State Dominguez Hills, including 7-3 in their past 10 games.
- Randy Betten is now 409-259 (.612) as head coach of the Broncos. He is 33 CCAA wins away from passing John Scolinos for most conference games won in CPP history. Betten is now 292-189 (.607) in CCAA games, while Scolinos was 324-256-3 (.558) in conference competition.
- Jack Sanders' 39-game on-base streak is the longest for CPP since 2012. He has reached base in every single contest since game two of opening day against Azusa Pacific at home.
- Over their past three games, the Broncos have outscored opponents 31-5.
Latest Men's Baseball
- Do or Die, Baseball’s Season Comes Down to SaturdayThe Broncos struggled to get the bats going on Friday, losing to No. 4 ranked Point Loma by a score of 8-3 in the NCAA West Regionals in San Diego. With the loss, the Broncos fall to 32-23 on the season and now face elimination on Saturday.
- Broncos Collect 22 Hits in Regional Win Over CougarsThe Cal Poly Pomona baseball team won their opening game of the 2024 NCAA Tournament on Thursday, defeating Cal State San Marcos by a score of 13-5. Their 22 hits in the win is tied for their most in a game since 2017, when they collected 28 hits – which was also against Cal State San Marcos.
- Four Broncos Earn All-West Region HonorsFour Cal Poly Pomona baseball student-athletes earned All-West Region First Team honors on Wednesday morning, including Johnny Pappas, Caleb Reyes, Rhys Stevens, and Jack Sanders.
- CCAA Joins FloSports in Historic Media Rights AgreementFloSports, a leading global sports media company, and the CCAA, the most successful NCAA Division II conference with 156 National Championships, have entered into an exclusive multi-year, seven-figure media rights agreement to begin this Fall.
- Baseball Headed to NCAA Tournament for 16th Time in Program HistoryFor the 16th time in program history, and the eighth time in the past nine seasons, the Cal Poly Pomona baseball team will compete in the NCAA Tournament. With a 31-22 overall record, the Broncos secured the No. 4 seed in the west region, sending them to San Diego for the second time in three seasons.
- Broncos' CCAA Tournament Run Ends in SemifinalsThe Broncos lost two games on Friday, ending their 2024 CCAA Tournament title aspirations. Both games finished with a final score of 5-4, as both Cal State Monterey Bay and San Francisco State will now face each other in the championship game on Saturday.