STOCKTON, Calif. – Strong bats at beneficial moments boosted the No. 25 Cal Poly Pomona Broncos to a 9-6 victory over the UC San Diego Tritons in the third round of the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Championships held at Banner Island Ballpark in Stockton.
 
The win advances the Broncos to the 12 p.m. game on Saturday which will be played against the Cal State East Bay Pioneers. CSUEB plays the Friday night game against Chico State and regardless of how that game goes will play at 12 p.m.
 
If the Chico State team wins, the Pioneers will play the elimination game by virtue of the loss, and should the Wildcats lose, they are bumped from the tournament and thus the final two teams would be CPP and the Pioneers.
 
Ryan Alsworth took the mound at the start for the Green and Gold. The freshman dealt for 4.1 innings and had a fantastic outing through the game's four opening innings. Inning No. 5 came with a bit of a rocky outing on the mound as Alsworth surrendered a game-tying five runs to the Tritons.
 
With an out on the board, Peter Beattie took over for Alsworth. He closed out the game and secured the win with five hits scattered over 4.2 innings and just a single unearned run allowed in the ninth.
 
The win improves the Broncos to a 36-16 record on the season. UCSD falls to a 31-21 overall mark, and as they fell, the loss likely spelled the end of their season.
 
In the first inning, CPP posted four runs as a double to right center from Caleb Romo scored the duo of Jared James and Jason Padlo. Later in the inning, a homerun from Daniel Pitts over the left center field fence and into the home team's bullpen scored Nic Hernandez and added CPP's runs three and four.
 
As the Broncos nearly batted around in the first inning, Romo was able to extend his hitting clinic with a single to left that scored Chris Stratton in the second.
 
In the fifth, a single, a wild pitch, a double, and another single spelled out five runs for the UCSD team, tying the game.
 
Not to be outdone, Hernandez sent his seventh homer of the season flying over the right center field fence with Romo on base to put CPP on top once more. The Green and Gold lead would be padded in the following inning as James cranked his seventh homer of the season over the right field fence and Hernandez would single once more and score Padlo.
 
The ninth came with the lone run off Beattie crossing with a fielding error in the CPP infield. The game's final score was 9-6.
 
2016 CCAA Baseball Tournament – Bracket
Banner Island Ballpark; Stockton, Calif.
May 11-14, 2016
 

Wednesday, May 11
Game 1 – 11:00 a.m.	No. 6 Chico State (6) vs. No. 1 Cal Poly Pomona (2)
Game 2 – 3:00 p.m.	No. 5 Cal State San Bernardino (2) vs. No. 2 Cal State East Bay (13)
Game 3 – 7:00 p.m.	No. 4 UC San Diego (7) vs. No. 3 Cal State Monterey Bay (11)
Thursday, May 12
Game 4 – 11:00 a.m.	Cal Poly Pomona (6) vs. Cal State San Bernardino (2) (elimination game)
Game 5 – 3:00 p.m.	Chico State (6) vs. UC San Diego (7)
Game 6 – 7:00 p.m.	Cal State East Bay (9) vs. Cal State Monterey Bay (8)
Friday, May 13
Game 7 – 11:00 a.m.	Chico State (4) vs. Cal State Monterey Bay (2) (elimination game)
Game 8 – 3:00 p.m.	Cal Poly Pomona (9) vs. UC San Diego (6) (elimination game)
Game 9 – 7:00 p.m.	Cal State East Bay (2) vs. Chico State (4)
Saturday, May 14
Game 10 – 12:00 p.m.	Cal Poly Pomona vs. Cal State East Bay (elimination game)
Game 11 – 4:00 p.m.	Winner of game 9 vs. Winner of game 10 (championship game)