CARY, N.C. – After winning the NCAA Division II West Regional on Monday, the Cal Poly Pomona baseball program has advanced to the NCAA D-II Baseball Championships. It marks the first time since 1985 that the CPP squad has been crowned the West Region champions.
 
CPP's first contest in the Division II Championships will be on Sunday evening at 4 p.m. Pacific (7 p.m. Eastern). The Broncos will face off against the University of Tampa Spartans, who are no stranger to the NCAA D-II Championships. To access live video of the game, go to ncaa.com/liveschedule.
 
The Green and Gold finished the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) regular season with a 28-12 record. That marked the first CCAA title for the Broncos since 1991.
 
After winning the league outright, CPP swept the conference postseason tournament, defeating Cal State Dominguez Hills and UC San Diego along the way.
 
After winning the conference tournament in Stockton, the Broncos ended as the No. 1 team in the West region, providing them with the winning bid to host the West Regional. At Mt. San Antonio College, the Green and Gold went 4-1, playing all other teams in the regional and falling only to Dixie State. Keeping up with the CCAA rivalry, the Broncos worked past the UCSD Tritons 7-4 in the Regional title game.
 
After that final game, six members of the CPP squad were named to the All-Tournament team. The list includes Ryan Webberley, who was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, and Kyle Garlick, who blasted two homeruns against the Tritons to tie the CPP single-season record set by Travis Taijeron.
 
The Broncos pitching staff enters the tournament with a strong starting lineup. Ryan Olson was named an All-American from both Daktronics and the NCBWA leads the Broncos and the conference with 11 wins. He also boasts a 1.67 earned run average (ERA) and 78 strikeouts.
 
Cody Ponce leads CPP with a 1.30 ERA, complete with a 5-3 record through 11 starts. He has 59 strikeouts through 55.1 innings pitched, thus leading the Broncos' starters in strikeouts per appearance. He has allowed just four multi-base hits in 203 batters faced.
 
Austin Boyle has made the most appearances for CPP this season, clocking in at 26 trips to the mound. He has racked up 35 strikeouts in 28.1 innings pitched. J.J. Franklin led the CCAA all season in the save category and owns a total of 10, a CPP record.
 
Throughout the season, the CPP squad has bested the opposition in every single offensive category. Overall, the Green and Gold have a better team average at .288, almost twice the amount of runs scored, more walks, less strikeouts... you name the category and the Broncos won it.
 
The University of Tampa Spartans, the round one matchup for the Broncos, are back in the D-II Championships for the third-consecutive season. They captured the national title in 2013 and are looking to do so again.
 
UT had a matchup early in the season against the Philadelphia Phillies and the Spartans defeated the MLB squad 6-2. The strong point on the Spartans' squad is their hitting, which boasts a .335 average as a team. They have three hitters with at least 10 homeruns and seven who have tallied at least 34 runs batted in.
 
The Spartans will rely on their hitting as they face off against the defensive powerhouse that is the Broncos. A few reports have the matchup between the Broncos and Spartans as the game of the weekend. It should prove to be a fantastic game and the USA Baseball Training Complex is the perfect place for it. The facility opened its doors in 2007 and has since been the host for the D-II Baseball Championships.