RIVERSIDE, Calif. – With a stellar offense behind him and a fantastic outing on the mound,
Max Bethell earned his 10th win of the season and the Cal Poly Pomona's 38th. A two-hit, 11-strikeout and eight-inning showing from the CPP senior captain matched his career-high strikeout tally as the Broncos ran away with a 14-2 victory on day two of the NCAA West Regional Tournament.
The win advances the Broncos to the 11 a.m. game on Saturday and they are set to play the tournament host and only other undefeated team, the Cal Baptist Lancers.
Friday's runs didn't start until the third inning when the Broncos, who had the visitor role in the contest, posted three. To lead off the inning, the catcher
Cody Martin singled to left. Then a single over the third baseman put
Jacob Bernardy on and
Jared James was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
With no outs on the board and the bases full, a
Chris Stratton single to the shortstop scored Martin, then a
Caleb Romo sacrifice fly scored Bernardy. After the second run scored,
Jason Padlo doubled to right to score James and the give the Broncos run No. 3.
In the fourth, the Green and Gold registered six runs.
Ryan Webberley singled to lead off the inning, then
Daniel Pitts walked and Martin laid down a sacrifice bunt. Bernardy then singled up the middle to score Webberley. The next batter, James, singled to left to score Pitts. Stratton singled, then Romo singled to score Bernardy.
An attempted double play for the Otter defense went awry as Romo was out at second but a throwing error found Padlo safe at first and scored James.
Nic Hernandez then singled to left to advance Padlo to second, and a subsequent single up the middle from Webberley scored Padlo. After four, the score stood at 9-0 Broncos.
Green and Gold bats wouldn't stop there however as the sixth inning had another four runs score. Stratton led off the inning as he reached on a throwing error by the Otters' shortstop, then another error by the CSUMB second baseman put Padlo on base. A single to center for Hernandez loaded the bases, and a single up the middle for Pitts scored the duo of Padlo and Stratton.
Martin then walked to once again load the bases and a Bernardy single through the left side scored Pitts and Hernandez. The follow inning, the seventh, had a run score as well for CPP as a Hernandez double to right center scored Padlo who reached on a single. Heading into the seventh inning stretch, the score was 14-0 in the Broncos' favor.
Coming in to pitch for the Broncos and closing out the game in the ninth was the trio of
Erik Trask,
Matthew Grier, and
Kohto Hasegawa. It was appearance No. 19 on the season for Trask, No. 15 for Grier, and No. 7 for Hasegawa.
In the ninth, the Otters posted a run on a sacrifice fly to center with the bases loaded. A walk then brought home their second and final run of the game. All told, the CPP offense posted 14 runs while the defense allowed just the pair in the ninth.
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 (3) vs. Dixie State (6) (elimination game) |
11:00 a.m. |
| 5 |
CBU Lancers (12) vs. Chico State (3) (possible elimination game) |
3:00 p.m. |
| 6 |
Cal State Monterey Bay (2) vs. Cal Poly Pomona (14) |
7:00 p.m. |
| SATURDAY, MAY 21 |
| Game # |
Teams |
Time |
| 7 |
CBU Lancers vs. Cal Poly Pomona |
11:00 a.m. |
| 8 |
Cal State Monterey Bay vs. Dixie State (elimination game) |
3:00 p.m. |
| 9 |
Loser Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8 |
7:00 p.m. |
| SUNDAY, MAY 22 or MONDAY MAY 23 (Depending upon CBU finish) |
| Game # |
Teams |
Time |
| 10 |
Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 9 (elimination game) |
2:00 p.m. |
| 11 |
Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 9 (if necessary) |
6:00 p.m. |
