POMONA, Calif. – With the 20th-ranked Cal Poly Pomona baseball team sitting at second place in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA), the time has come for the Battle Royale. The Broncos will play a four-game series this week against UC San Diego, a team atop the conference standings and 17th nationally.
The Broncos currently hold an overall record of 22-8, complete with a 14-6 mark in CCAA play. UCSD stands at 22-9 overall while going 18-5 in league action.
The series will kick off in La Jolla on Thursday at the Triton Ballpark with a 6 p.m. start time. On Friday, UCSD will again host with the same start time. Then on Saturday, the Broncos will host the final two games in a doubleheader scheduled to start at 12 p.m.
CPP has a number of players listed on the CCAA leaderboards. With his lead in the conference at nine saves,
J.J. Franklin also ranks No. 1 nationally for the stat.
After a stellar weekend from both
Christian Kelley and
Kyle Garlick, the two now sit at the top of the league leaderboards in batting average and home runs. Kelley moved from second to first in conference with a .425 season batting average. Garlick, who launched three homers last week, retook the lead as he has recorded 10 thus far on the season.
Numerous members of the CPP squad had terrific weekends. After a five-RBI weekend,
Nick Cooksey finds himself tied for second on the leaderboard with 29 in the category. Garlick, whose three long balls and eight hits also provided him with nine RBIs, sits just one back of Cooksey with 28.
The Broncos pitching staff has two members in the conference spotlight, as
Chris Powell and
Ryan Olson have boasted a third- and fourth- place placement in ERA with 1.48 and 1.71, respectively.
The Tritons have a few players on the board as well. Jack Larsen, who leads the team in both batting average (.394) and RBIs (29) sits at third for average and tied with Cooksey in RBIs. Justin Donatella leads the conference in three categories, he holds a 0.61 ERA, six wins on the season, and 61 strikeouts thus far. There are also two members of the Triton squad tied for second with five wins.
Last season, the two squads faced off a total of six times. UCSD came away with four wins, including the season-ending defeat of the Broncos in the NCAA D-II West Region Tournament. The all-time series features the Tritons with a 47-26 advantage.
