NCAA West Region Tournament Info
RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Behind 7.1 shutout innings from
Michael Koval and 15 hits from the offense, the No. 26 Cal Poly Pomona Broncos cruised to an 11-1 win over Chico State Thursday on the opening day of the West Regional. The victory advances the Broncos to the 7 p.m. game on Friday against Cal State Monterey Bay.
After being featured as an All-West Region First Team honoree earlier on Thursday, Koval put together a masterful performance in Riverside. His outing in the first-round game included six strikeouts while surrendering just five hits and allowing zero WIldcat runners to cross the plate. The win for Koval was his ninth of the season.
In the first inning, after singles from both
Chris Stratton and
Caleb Romo, a sacrifice fly to the left-center field warning track for
Nic Hernandez scored the Broncos' first run of the contest.
To lead off the second,
Daniel Pitts drew a walk for CPP, then
Cody Martin doubled to put runners at second and third.
Jared James grounded out to the second baseman, but gave Pitts enough time to score CPP's second run. Then Stratton singled through the right side to bring Martin across.
The score stayed at 3-0 till the bottom of the fifth, when the Broncos had four runners score. To lead off the scoring, a double to the right-center gap from Hernandez brought home Romo, then immediately after, a single to left from
Ryan Webberley enabled James the opportunity to score.
A line drive off the pitcher for
Daniel Pitts then scored Hernandez for run No. 6. It was at this time that the Wildcat's starter Clayton Gelfand was retired. The seventh run of the game came with a single over the Chico State third baseman from Martin that scored Webberley.
The following inning saw another trio of CPP runners cross the plate. Stratton led off the bottom of the sixth with a single up the middle, then Romo singled to left and
Jason Padlo singled to right. Hernandez reached as he was hit-by-a-pitch and scored Stratton. Then a sac fly from Webberley scored Romo and a groundout from Pitts scored Padlo. After six the score was 10-0.
In the seventh, a single to right from Padlo scored Bernardy, marking the final run of the game for the Broncos.
Hernandez, with his two hits in his first two at bats, put together a stellar 10-for-10 showing at the plate in his last 10 at bats dating back to the second game of the CCAA Championships.
In the top of the ninth, a passed ball scored the lone Wildcat run of the game. With the win, the Broncos improved to 37-17 on the season and advance to the 7 p.m. game against the Cal State Monterey Bay Otters.
Tournament Schedule
| THURSDAY, MAY 19 |
| Game # |
Teams |
Time |
| 1 |
No. 2 Dixie State (3) vs. No. 5 Cal State Monterey Bay (6) |
11:00 a.m. |
| 2 |
No. 1 CBU Lancers (14) vs. No. 6 Cal State East Bay (0) |
3:00 p.m. |
| 3 |
No. 3 Cal Poly Pomona (11) vs. No. 4 Chico State (1) |
7:00 p.m. |
| FRIDAY, MAY 20 |
| Game # |
Teams |
Time |
| 4 |
Cal State East Bay vs. Dixie State (elimination game) |
11:00 a.m. |
| 5 |
CBU Lancers vs. Chico State (possible elimination game) |
3:00 p.m. |
| 6 |
Cal State Monterey Bay vs. Cal Poly Pomona |
7:00 p.m. |
The remainder of the Tournament schedule is determined by the outcomes of May 20 and beyond, and there are three possible brackets, with three games played Saturday at 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. and one to two more games Sunday or Monday at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. For all the possible scenarios, view the
full bracket here
.
