POMONA, Calif. – A stellar showing from the Cal Poly Pomona pitching staff with a little help from the Broncos' offense led the CPP squad to a 3-0 victory over the Concordia Eagles on Friday night.
Just two pitchers and 29 total batters faced is all the Broncos' pitching staff needed to secure the win over the visitors to Scolinos Field. Starting off on the bump for the Green and Gold and earning the win in the contest was 2015 All-American
Ryan Olson.
The junior dealt for 5.1 innings and allowed merely a single hit. He racked up five strikeouts and allowed zero walks. Looking back to last season and his flawless record, the win is now Olson's 13th-consecutive as a Bronco.
CPP's offense in the contest was relatively quiet, but came in clutch when it was needed. To lead off the the second inning, the only inning in which a run was scored,
Caleb Romo sent out his first homerun of the season. The shot to left field marked his second as a Bronco and secured him his first run batted in of the season.
After Romo's at-bat,
Nic Hernandez drew a walk and quickly proceeded to steal second base. Then a double from
Nicholas Bruno sent Hernandez rounding third and heading for home. After he scored
Jacob Bernardy and
Chris Stratton would each draw a walk to load the bases. A subsequent wild pitch would send Bruno home for the Green and Gold's third and final run.
The CPP defense would shut down all threats from the Concordia offense that posted eight runs just the night before. After Olson earned the first out of the fifth inning, head coach
Randy Betten would pull in newcomer
Peter Bayer to pitch.
Bayer, a senior transfer from Richmond University had a phenomenal debut for the Green and Gold. He earned the save as he faced just 12 batters through 3.2 innings, nine of which he struck out, including a stellar eight-straight. He allowed just a single baserunner as he walked the Eagles' center fielder, but shut down the threat by striking out the final two batters of the inning.
The Broncos will return to action Saturday as they head to the Eagles' home field in Irvine for an 11 a.m. double header. CPP will head into the game with a 2-0 record. After the two contests, the Broncos will return home on Friday for a non-conference game against conference opponents, the Cal State San Bernardino Coyotes. The Coyotes enter their Saturday double-header with a 2-2 overall record, complete with a 2-1 mark in California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) play.
